Orange Health Service couldn’t function without the hundreds of volunteers that walk through its doors every day.
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That was the message from hospital staff from all departments in a presentation to volunteers on Friday, which was followed by a morning tea.
Orange Health Service general manager Catherine Nowlan said volunteers had not just contributed countless hours, but through their own efforts and the efforts of dozens of groups such as Lions and Rotary had collectively donated $500,000 to the hospital last financial year.
Those donations allowed different hospital departments to purchase vital machinery, tools and surgical equipment.
“This year the volunteers just in donations donated $533,000 towards equipment … there’s time and then there’s this money,” she said.
Cancer Care Centre volunteer Denise Serbutt has been donating her time to the hospital for six years.
She and her fellow volunteers in the centre help people find their way through the unit and answer questions, but also help provide comfort and support to patients – which Mrs Serbutt very humbly described as “tea and sympathy”.
“When someone’s coming in every day for 40 days for treatment we really do get to know them,” she said.
“Some people with chemotherapy are there for six hours on the couch with a drip in their arm … if they have a carer with them we can give them a break.”
Mrs Serbutt and her fellow volunteers also help wash slide sheets, which help transport patients, which saves the hospital in the vicinity of $3000 a month.
Auxiliary Cafe volunteer Christine Hannus has also been at the hospital for six years.
“It’s great, it’s excellent to be able to provide that service to everybody, and the people who provide that service especially to people from various areas,” she said.
“Sometimes it’s just as simple as providing people with somewhere to sit and eat and read the paper.”
She said she’s really enjoyed her time at the hospital and encouraged others to get involved in any way they could.
“People volunteer here because they want to make a difference,” she said.
“The satisfaction you get from being here every day, and people coming up and thanking you is fantastic.”
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Max Stainkamph
Max joined the CWD in September 2017, leaving the big smoke of Melbourne to come to Orange, where he stayed until 2020.
Max joined the CWD in September 2017, leaving the big smoke of Melbourne to come to Orange, where he stayed until 2020.
