Sending Hospital
Beds from St Vincents Hospital to Timor Leste
A working holiday
for Rotary
While most people were having a holiday, members of the Rotary Club of Hawthorn
(including David Pisterman, Gordon Cheyne, and Gerry Cantwell) were hard at
work gathering surplus medical equipment at St Vincent’s Hospital and sending
it to a clinic in Timor Leste. This is
“Rotary Recycling” at its best, shipping surplus equipment in Australia to
people in desperate need overseas. St Vincent’s Hospital was receiving new equipment and,
rather than dump the old items, contacted Rotary to find it a new home. Rotary Volunteers from many clubs worked on
the last week in December to collect the items.
They packed a container at the Hospital, and 48 electrical hospital beds
and other equipment are on their way to replace ordinary single beds. The improvement in patient comfort and
reduction in staff exertion will be greatly appreciated. Rotary’s next task is to find the funds to
ship the rest of the equipment!