The Daylesford community are again showing how much they value their local health service through their generous gifts that help provide quality care to patients, residents and clients who receive essential hospital services, residential aged care, community nursing and community health programs provided by Daylesford Health. Their generosity is having an impact now and it is also an investment in the future health and wellbeing of the community.Daylesford Health has recently received a $186,000 gift from a past patient who left the funds to the hospital in their Will. The impact of their legacy will be long-lasting on the local community as it will assist Central Highlands Rural Health to continue improving services and planning upgrades for the facilities on Hospital Street, Daylesford.
Gifts in Wills are incredibly valuable to health services as they are an investment into the future of healthcare for generations to come. Some individuals leaving bequests told us why they want to leave a gift in their Will to Daylesford Health such as Bev* who told us, “The lovely care we’ve always received is the reason why we’ve chosen to leave a bequest. The hospital means a lot to me; it’s close to home and available in the middle of the night.” Bev knows how important it is to give to the service that cares for her and her loved ones.
Support for Daylesford Health has also been received recently from local artist Adele Perry who is donating her artwork for auction, Daylesford Bowling Club who is giving its monthly meat raffle proceeds to its local health service and Daylesford Highland Gathering Committee which gave a generous $10,000 to aged care residents at Lumeah Lodge.
Keith Pyers, former Daylesford and Glenlyon Shire Mayor and former Daylesford Highland Gathering Committee member, said,
“Our Daylesford Hospital is seeking support from the community for funds to keep the hospital up-to-date with buildings, equipment and health services.
Due to generous community support of earlier appeals we enjoy very good services at present. But there is always a need to update such services as new equipment and procedures come into use.
Recently I have enjoyed sitting with my wife who is a resident at Lumeah Lodge in one of the internal courtyards. The landscaping of this attractive area was funded by a donation that Rosalind and I made when Lumeah was being built.
This has been a very pleasant experience and a reminder that when we pool our resources we achieve great results.”
Adele Perry, artist, said,
“Each visit to Daylesford Hospital all the staff have been incredibly warm, kind, caring and totally professional. It’s my absolute pleasure to support your fundraising.”
Maree Cuddihy, Central Highlands Rural Health CEO, said,
“We greatly appreciate these generous gifts from the Daylesford community. Every gift helps us to provide Best Care to our current patients, clients and residents and allows us to plan for the future of Daylesford Health to meet the changing needs of the community.
We know how much having access to quality healthcare means to residents across our region. I recently received a heartfelt card from a patient who wanted to thank our team for their life-saving treatment. They said ‘The medication along with the medical intervention and the ambulance staff ensured that I am here today’. It shows the importance of providing rural communities with high-quality healthcare.”
Recently, staff at Daylesford Health’s dialysis unit requested a portable ultrasound device that will assist them to view newly formed fistulas due to an increase in complex care needs of their patients. Thanks to many small donations made to the health service, funds were available so that the device could be purchased quickly and utilised to improve patient care.
Meagan Harding, Daylesford Health Director of Nursing, said:
“The portable ultrasound will aid our expert team to work with complex cases in our dialysis unit as well as assisting with some acute and urgent care centre cases. It’s wonderful that the generosity of our community allows us to purchase vital equipment when it is needed. It goes to show that every donation helps, whether it’s big or small. Thank you to our donors who support us to provide Best Care to our patients.”
For over 160 years, the Daylesford hospital has been actively supported by the generosity of those who contribute their time and money to ensure it can best meet local health challenges. In 2021, the community rallied and raised $100,000 to develop a master plan to provide a blueprint to bring the hospital precinct into the 21st century in-line with the government funded $6.4M state-of-the-art operating theatre that is currently under construction.
Although Daylesford Health receives government funding, donations assist with building new infrastructure, program expansion and purchasing of the latest medical equipment that would otherwise not be possible. There are many different ways that you can assist health services to deliver quality care to your community such as leaving a gift in your Will, donating funds, vouchers and goods or volunteering to assist with the delivery of Meals on Wheels and other projects. Community contributions to rural health services have an enormous impact on the wellbeing of a town’s population and its overall vibrancy and liveability.Can you help the Daylesford community to thrive?
*Bev is not the real name as the donor has requested to remain anonymous.
