Cancer centre set for 2017
News briefs Overland future unclear
Wimmera residents concerned about the future of The Overland rail service between Melbourne and Adelaide should know of its fate in the next few weeks. People raised concerns on Monday when Great Southern Rail released 2016-17 timetables and fares for The Ghan and Indian Pacific services. Fares and timetables for The Overland service – which stops in the Wimmera at Ararat, Stawell, Horsham, Dimboola and Nhill – are not available after December this year. Great Southern Rail chief executive Chris Tallent said the company was waiting on responses from Victorian and South Australian governments. “The Overland currently receives funding from both the Victorian and South Australian governments to operate the rail service between Melbourne and Adelaide and its continued operation is dependent on that support,” he said. ”We anticipate an outcome in the coming weeks, at which time we can provide a further update.” The Overland travels from Melbourne to Adelaide on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and from Adelaide to Melbourne on Mondays and Fridays.
BY SARAH SCULLY
W
immera Health Care Group chief executive Chris Scott believes the region could have a new state-of-theart oncology centre by 2017.
Mr Scott said it was an ambitious target, but Federal Governmentbacking and community support made it achievable. The proposed $3-million Wimmera Cancer Centre received a $126,322.60 boost, raised through a Rachael’s Wish radio telethon on Friday. The telethon, named in honour of Murtoa College teacher and cancer survivor Rachael Littore, brought the community fundraising tally to $533,276.60. Miss Littore said she was overwhelmed by the outpouring of community support for the telethon. “I had a figure in my head – $100,000 – which I was almost too scared to say aloud,” she said. “To surpass that figure – and by that amount – is awesome. “It shows how important a cancer centre is to the people of the Wimmera. I think as a community, we will be able to look at it and think, ‘we built this’.” Mr Scott said he was confident the proposed centre was well on the way to becoming a reality. “Once we know the precise nature of the building and the end cost, we’ll be in a position to speak with the State Government about what our specific needs are,” he said. “We look forward to hopefully gaining their support for any additional money we might need.” Mr Scott said the amount of money raised would determine the size and shape of the centre.
ACHIEVEMENT: MIXX FM Brekky announcers Nims Azoor, left, and Emma Elsom, far right, celebrate with Rachael’s Wish ambassador Rachael Littore, second from left, and Wimmera Health Care Group’s Amelia Crafter, second from right, the final tally from a telethon for the cancer centre. “In simple terms, the more money we get, the more we’ll be able to put into the building,” he said.
Planning Mr Scott said a project working group was heavily involved in the planning process. “Those people come from our oncology, dialysis and community palliative care areas,” he said. “They will work out what room sizes and shapes are needed, and all the things they would like to have in the building. “We’ve also got people who have experienced cancer, who have been on the cancer journey, involved in the planning process.” Mr Scott said the health care group was working on a whole-ofservice plan.
“It will concentrate on our oncology area to make sure we’ve got the appropriate data and numbers to be able to project what our future needs are,” he said. “At this stage we’re looking at 16 chairs and beds, but we’re already thinking it might have to be more flexible than that. “The building and cancer services will always be important to the community, especially with the growth rates of about 13 percent a year we’re experiencing. “We don’t want to overbuild, but we want something that will service the Wimmera and southern Mallee’s current and future needs.” Mr Scott said the organisation was also in the process of appointing an architect to review its Horsham site, to determine the best location for a
cancer centre. “The centre needs to be co-located to the hospital for emergency reasons,” he said. “We have a couple of sites we think are suitable and we have met with the Department of Health and Human Services. They tend to agree with us on suitable sites.” The cancer centre will include dialysis and palliative care. “We are keen for the building to have its own identity, entrance, address and so on,” Mr Scott said. “It will be more than a clinical environment. It will also be a wellness centre, so it will be about caring about people’s psycho-social needs, clinical needs and spiritual needs.” He said the organisation aimed to complete planning by Christmas or early 2016.
Nursing home refurbishment
Wimmera Health Care Group’s Wimmera Nursing Home is set for refurbishment after a $450,000 State Government grant. Chief executive Chris Scott said money for the nursing home, which includes Sir Robert Menzies and Matron Arthur Manor, would be part of an overall commitment to refurbish the units. “As part of our Aged Care Strategy a significant refurbishment project will get underway at Wimmera Nursing Home including making more single rooms and improving living and leisure areas,” Mr Scott said. “The improvements will be on top of the new air-conditioning and new carpet already installed at the nursing home.” The $450,000 was announced by Housing, Disability and Ageing Minister Martin Foley as part of a $6-million boost for aged care across the state.
Radio telethon appeal exceeds expectations The general manager of radio stations 3WM, MIXX FM and The Weekly Advertiser has spoken of the high level success of last week’s one-off radio telethon to raise money for a Wimmera Cancer Centre. Scott Grambau said the huge commitment and faith from everyone involved in the project had proved worthwhile. “The logistics in staging such an event, from planning and manipulating work and programming schedules to manning the phones required a significant effort but it all went off without too many hitches,” he said. “Our on-air team in particular did extremely long shifts, taking requests and doing interviews, to keep us live and current for the duration of the telethon.”
The Rachael’s Wish telethon, from 9am to 7pm last Friday, raised $76,322.60, which combined with a $50,000 gift from ACE network owners Geoff Handbury and Roly and Judy Paterson, took the total to $126,322.60. “It was a wonderful effort from all involved considering that at the same time we still had radio stations and a newspaper to run, which meant some creative juggling of staff duties and a tremendous commitment from all involved,” Mr Grambau said. He stressed that the decision to run a telethon was far from taken lightly due to the planning, infrastructure and logistics involved. “We hope what we’ve achieved has contributed to our community and has helped in the fundraising efforts to turn a wish into a reality,” he said.
“Although it was good to bring back the telethon of days past and we had a lot of fun and community engagement, it is something we couldn’t do regularly.
Lanes and Games to re-open
Sports stadium Horsham Lanes and Games will reopen on Saturday, less than a year after it was extensively damaged by fire. Owner Wayne Watkins said the centre would re-open its bowling alley at noon. Fire crews managed to save the bowling alley when fire broke out in the centre’s kitchen in September. The kitchen, mezzanine level, tennis courts and roof of the Jenkinson Street centre were hit hard. Mr Watkins told The Weekly Advertiser last month the bowling alley would open before the multi-purpose courts. “We still have to redo the floor in the stadium,” he said.
“What was amazing throughout the whole process was the generosity of the Wimmera community and beyond. The final figure exceeded our expectations.” Mr Grambau thanked staff members and volunteers who helped on the day. “It also also showed how a cross-media promotion combination involving our radio stations, newspaper, websites and social media can work in getting a strong message out to a broad community,” he said. “That’s our strength and it was great to see it work in such an important community way.”
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