Cr Danita Potter, Denyse Swendson from Kingaroy Hospital and chef Karen Ford had fun at the Kingaroy Hospital Auxiliary’s 25th Anniversary afternoon tea … back in 2006, Karen tested all the recipes for the Auxiliary’s cookbooks prior to publication

November 11, 2016

An afternoon tea to mark the 25th anniversary of the reactivation of the Kingaroy Hospital Auxiliary led to a $27,000 surprise for Kingaroy Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Raymond “RT” Lewandowski.

The Auxiliary presented him with a cheque to pay for the cost of a new C-Mac Video Laryngoscope, a device that allows doctors to see what’s happening in a patient’s airways on a video screen in real time.

The new C-Mac will complement another the hospital already has, meaning that one can now be permanently stationed in Emergency and the other in the main hospital.

Dr Lewandowski told the audience that until now, Kingaroy Hospital’s lone C-Mac had to be wheeled from one section to another whenever there was a call for its services.

The afternoon tea was held at the Kingaroy TAFE College on Tuesday.

It was attended by about 60 current and former members of the Hospital Auxiliary, along with representatives from local service clubs and organisations which had assisted fundraising efforts over the years, South Burnett Mayor Keith Campbell and Communities portfolio chair Cr Danita Potter.

Auxiliary publicity officer Pamela Lincoln outlined the history of the organisation.

She said a Hospital Auxiliary had been in existence almost from the moment Kingaroy General Hospital was first built, but it became inactive between 1981 and 1991.

By the early 1990s, increasing numbers of hospital patients made the need for support from the Auxiliary necessary again, so it was reactivated by Kingaroy vet Dr Julian Mullins, who took on the role of president, along with Noreen Kennedy (vice-president), John McKewen (secretary) and Rita Murray (treasurer).

The reactivated Auxiliary’s first project was to set up a canteen to sell light refreshments to the hospital’s patients and staff.

By November 1991 the old Farrhome kitchenette was identified as the canteen’s first home, with Nora James and Evelyn Knopke jointly appointed to run it.

The canteen proved popular from the moment it opened its doors, and received its first donation – a microwave oven – from the Quota Club of Kingaroy not long afterwards.

Other donations soon flowed in from the Kingaroy Senior Citizens Club, the Burrandowan Race Club, Kingaroy Patchworkers and the Lutheran Ladies Guild.

As the canteen become fully equipped, it began raising funds to provide equipment and items for the hospital not usually supplied by Queensland Health.

By the end of 1992, the Auxiliary was able to give the Hospital its first $1350 donation to buy a resuscitation baby mannequin; the following year, $3350 to purchase an oxygen concentrator; and the year after that, $6841 in assorted equipment.

Between 1996 and 1998 the Auxiliary put together $28,161 to put 38 individual bedside TV sets through the wards, helping make Kingaroy Hospital one of the few Queensland Health hospitals to supply free TVs to patients.

In 2005, in conjunction with Lady Bjelke-Petersen, the Auxiliary launched an appeal to raise funds to furnish a proposed new South Burnett Renal Unit at the hospital.

And the next year it printed two cookbooks – “High Tea Recipes” and “Swarm: Recipes You’ll Love” – to help with the fundraising.

Both books proved so popular that when the new Renal Unit finally opened in 2009, the Auxiliary was able spend $40,000 to equip it with an ice-making machine, kitchen facilities, lounges, curtains, individual TV sets and all the comforts of home.

In 2011, the canteen was relocated to the former Red Cross building when its original home became unsafe, but community support enabled the new building to be refurbished with a disabled access ramp and disabled toilet, and re-equipped to a higher standard than the original canteen.

Over the last 25 years since it was reactivated, the Hospital Auxiliary has been able to donate close to $300,000 to the hospital, as well as help make a stay there much more pleasant for patients than it might otherwise be.

After Pamela’s talk, Auxiliary Treasurer Alison Murray called Dr Lewandowski to the podium for the cheque presentation.

She said the Auxiliary’s next fundraising drive would be to raise $47,000 to buy an ultrasound machine for the hospital.

South Burnett Mayor Keith Campbell congratulated the group on celebrating the silver Anniversary of their reactivation, saying their fundraising was a remarkable achievement for a group of about 20 volunteers.

Mayor Keith Campbell chatted with Kingaroy Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Raymond Lewandowski and Hospital Auxiliary president Norm Pomfret
Nora James, who was charged with setting up the canteen 25 years ago, shared memories of the time with Auxiliary vice-president Sandra Beetham, who’s been an Auxiliary member for 23 years
Auxiliary Treasurer Alison Murray presented a $27,000 cheque to Dr Lewandowski to buy a second C-Mac unit for the hospital
TAFE Front Of House Teacher Sandra Perry and Hospitality teacher Jason Ford oversaw the afternoon’s catering and service
The Hospital Auxiliary’s two cook books – one full of recipes for High Teas, the other full of family recipes – have been steady sellers over the past 10 years, and can be obtained from the Hospital’s canteen for $20 the pair

 

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