The Rotary club community, collaboration with local businesses and Council, and the serendipitous timing of the completion of the new hospital - have all combined to form a bond between Mudgee and the highlands Papua New Guinea.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Earlier this year the Rotary Club of Greenhills-Maitland broke the sad news on their Facebook page that the Nondugl Health Clinic in PNG, which they were long time supporters of, lost its maternity and birthing ward when it burnt to the ground.
And as the Greenhills-Maitland club rallied support to help replace the building, Marg Barnes of the Rotary Club of Mudgee Sunrise said there was a possibility that they and the Rotary Club of Mudgee could really get behind their fellow Rotarians' efforts.
Read also:
Because while devastation had struck the facility in Nondugl, the wraps had only recently come off Mudgee's new $70m hospital, with the demolition of its predecessor underway. And valuable equipment could maybe be procured here for PNG.
"It was almost opportunistic, you saw about the fire, you knew the Mudgee equipment was there, and we saw what we could do to link the two things up together," Marg said.
Jo Whitson, project officer for the redevelopment, said that while much of the equipment had been distributed to other hospitals within the Local Health District, there was some remaining which they were happy to donate.
"The equipment that wasn't re-purposed for the new hospital or for the other hospitals within the LHD was put aside, with a particular focus on the birthing unit. We had everything from beds to office furniture, and baby cribs - so there was a lot we were able to put aside with the help of Hutchinson Builders who minded it for us - and now it will go to good use," she said.
Although getting the equipment on its way was a mammoth task on its own. The long list of items included 13 beds after all.
John and Helen Williams of Mudgee Removals offered to move the five loads of equipment from the old hospital to Depot Road, where Mid-Western Regional Council provided one of their sheds for storage at no charge. And Keytrans volunteered to take the equipment, again free of charge, to Greenhills-Maitland where the arrangements are being made to send to Nondugl.
"Rotary cannot thank those who assisted enough," Marg said.
Do you want more Mudgee and regional news? Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...
