Spoken by Sharon Read—Director, Western Health Foundation

The Western Health Foundation raises funds for the people of the hospital and for the services that we provide, and also for research so that we can be cutting edge. This last year, the Foundation supported a campaign for a robot. The robot is a technology that helps do microsurgery on patients.

So, Western Health were fortunate to be able to have a robot on loan for 12 months, but we couldn’t afford one. Most health services have robots, we didn’t have a robot so it meant that our patients had to go to other health services in order to access that sort of technology. So, the Foundation raised 1.1 million dollars towards the robot, and now our patients can get this fine motor surgery.

Another campaign that the Foundation are very proud of being involved in was the POCUS machines for babies at the NICU in Sunshine Hospital, and this particular equipment allows the medical teams, the nurses, to actually do ultrasounds at babies’ cots, which means that they can see early on where babies are becoming unwell or how to intervene in a different way.

So this particular machine is really fascinating because it’s meant that we’ve been able to do that particular specialty that we’ve developed with other countries and particularly developing countries. This hospital, to the foundation, isn’t just a building, it’s a real game changer. So it brings more beds, brings more advanced services and best practice spaces designed around the people, which means we can provide much better care to the communities that we serve.

Today, as you’re standing here, look up and see the fancy sign of the Western Health Foundation. This is brand new for us. We’re actually right front and centre of the whole ground floor of the new hospital. For the Foundation, we’re hoping that this unlocks a whole level where your generosity will transform into impact, because you can see us, where we can see that patients can gain strength, safety, and comfort from the donations that are given to them. And it’s a level where technology like the surgical robot can take further evidence to actually improve people’s experience of surgery and of their own health care.

We’re really lucky to have been in partnership with Plenary, and with Honeywell, and with Compass, and many, many more corporates, actually support the foundation.

And the last thing is the community. So we’re really lucky to have the Vietnamese community, who are continual supporters of the Western Health Foundation. They actually supported the foundation in raising funds for the robot to the value of $600,000. So we are so, so lucky to have such a generous community that works with us and they always make it fun.

The thing that is fantastic about the work of the Foundation is that we can really make a difference to the people of the West. I really get out of bed knowing that all the funds we raise can be directed in the right areas and that we can actually make people’s lives so much better.

By supporting the Foundation, you become the hero in someone else’s story and we’re eternally grateful for your contribution.