Thanks to the incredible generosity of the employees at Stanbroke, Gatton Hospital is boosting its healthcare services.
Employees from the century-old beef producers at Stanbroke have donated an incredible $100,000 to advance care and facilities at Gatton Hospital.
Ipswich Hospital Foundation is managing the funds and facilitating the procurement of a range of specialty equipment and resources to expand health services at Gatton Hospital, meaning less people need to travel outside the region for care.
The new resources will benefit patients undergoing physical and occupational therapy, infusion therapy, and bariatric and geriatric care.
Director of Nursing at Gatton Hospital, Terry Kowald said the donation had funded specialised bariatric care equipment including a new wheelchair, pressure socks, shower and commode chairs, and bedside tables and chairs.
Other new equipment includes a steam cleaner, bed and floor sensors to alert staff if a patient gets out of bed and may require support, fitness and physical rehabilitation equipment, patient transfer equipment, and wheeled walkers.
The hospital has also received a delivery of day medical infusion chairs. The new chairs are designed to give greater comfort to patients undergoing infusion therapy, while helping to protect staff from back injuries when applying dressings or removing oncology pumps.
“This is really positive news for Gatton Hospital,’ Mr Kowald said.
“Traditionally, many patients requiring infusion therapy had to travel long distances to receive the care they need, but now, thanks to the generosity of Stanbroke employee’s, these patients will be able to get the care they need, without the added stress, time and cost of travel.”
Patients require infusion therapy for a variety of reasons, including chemotherapy, blood transfusions, iron, and intravenous antibiotics, with each treatment session taking between two and seven hours.
Mr Kowald said funding would also mean more people could return to Gatton Hospital, closer to home, to continue their recovery and rehabilitation following surgery or other treatments at larger hospitals.
“We’ve now got the tools and resources to provide more patient rehabilitation services locally,” Mr Kowald said.
“We have quite a variety of patients, including geriatric and bariatric patients, and this means we can now offer them a wider range of therapies closer to home.”
James Friis, Stanbroke Plant Manager at Stanbroke, said the employees make regular voluntary donations to help a variety of local community and healthcare organisations.
“We’ve got a fund at Stanbroke where all of our workforce can donate $1 of their wages per week,” Mr Friis said.
“We’ve had this going for many years now and we donate to local groups that we think need a bit of a lift.”
Following meetings with the hospital, which Mr Friis described as very positive, the company decided to donate $100,000 to help with the purchase of resources that would benefit the wider Gatton community.
“We have an awesome bunch of people working at the Stanbroke who are always thinking of the local community. We’ve helped Blue Nurses, Rural Fire Service, Hospice and other community groups around the area and the hospital was one that is very close to our hearts.
“Our hospitals, doctors, and nurses, and really all medical staff, need more support, and we should be funneling more into this area. Everybody gets sick at some stage in their life and needs medical care, and I’m just immensely proud of the team at Stanbroke for what they’re doing for this community.”
Special thanks to the generous employees at
