Hospital a triumph of island spirit
THE first stage of the multi-million-dollar Phillip Island Community Hospital was finished in July and since then there has been a steady rollout of services. The Urgent Care Centre, which is three times the size of the original urgent care centre in the Phillip Island Health Hub, is ready for summer emergencies and the daily requirements of locals.
According to radiographer Lucy Whaley, chatting to visitors on an open day on Saturday, the hospital’s magnificently-appointed imaging department has already completed more than 800 x-rays and 400 CT scans since it opened on July 29.
Hemodialysis, according to nurse unit manager Sky Martin, is set to roll in February, using six dialysis and chemo chairs donated to the hospital by the Phillip Island Ladies Golf Auxiliary, the Phillip Island RSL and the Phillip Island Lions Club.
“Four consumers at Wonthaggi will be relocating over early in the new year and we would expect the service here to be heavily used,” Ms Martin said.
The beauty of these facilities and all of the equipment at the new Phillip Island Community Hospital, according to Deputy Chair of Bass Coast Health Julia Oxley, is that it replicates what’s available at the Wonthaggi Hospital to ease transition for staff at both locations.
It’s an issue that theatre nurses Alyssa Hughes and Bec Toronyi are quick to seize on as they meet visitors making the tour through the new hospital to the two-theatre complex which will handle a developing book of day surgeries as more specialists are attracted to treat patients at Cowes.
There’s a sensory garden and a central courtyard providing comfort and light to patients and staff while they’re in the hospital and moving about, and as
elder-in-residence Aunty Dr Doseena Fergie OAM notes, there has been a special effort made to cater for the children who visit the hospital with features including a new playground.
Everyone was on hand for the tour day, including Member for Bass Jordan Crugnale, who championed the crucial efforts of the Phillip Island Medical and Health Action Group to get a local hospital to replace Warley.
None of this, she said, would have happened without the community’s commitment to delivering a new community hospital and funding much-needed equipment.
“The fact that so much of the equipment has been fundraised for and that the support is ongoing demonstrates the level of community commitment to the hospital and the community spirit that brought the project to fruition,” Ms Crugnale said.
Phillip Island Medical and Health Action Group president Peter Paul concurs but he said the Island community was only asking for what other communities were already getting.
“There were a whole lot of factors, of which the campaign and community support was just one, a commitment over 17 years I might add, but we mounted a very strong case to the building department of government and were fortunate enough to be included as one of the 10 community hospitals the government committed to funding,” Mr Paul said.
“We also supported the redevelopment of Wonthaggi which was a crucial part of it as well.
“But to see it open for the community at the weekend was a great day, and confirmation that together we have developed a great legacy for Phillip Island.”
The impressive new facility is expected to be officially opened by Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas early in the new year.
