Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath given the royal treatment on Paynters hospital project
THE Townsville Hospital is set to receive 10 new dialysis machines for its $4.8 million renal unit currently under construction.
Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath, with Townsville MP Scott Stewart, announced the Townsville Hospital Foundation was the recipient of a $232,000 grant through the Gambling Community Benefit Fund Commemorative Round at the hospital yesterday.
“This is really important equipment that we know is needed not only in Townsville but for this whole region,” she said. “This is going to benefit thousands of people into the future … Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are over represented when it comes to needs for dialysis treatment.”
Townsville Hospital Foundation chief executive Mandy Thompson said the extra equipment would mean North Queenslanders would have access to renal treatment on demand.
“The funding means that the number of chairs in that unit will go from 17 to 30 … the hospital will be able to operate two eight-hour shifts, six days a week of treatment plus a Sunday shift, she said.
“This will go a long way to helping people who need renal dialysis treatment.
“You can’t underestimate the importance of a grant such as this; $232,000 worth of equipment coming straight into services here in Townsville are going to benefit all of North Queensland.”
Townsville Hospital Chief executive Kieran Keyes said the new machines would be in use with the completion of the renal unit by June 2020.
“A renal disease is one of the fastest growing chronic diseases in the country and demand for renal dialysis grows far greater than demand for other hospital services,” he said. “What this very generous grant … allows us to do is keep pace with that growth and demand, so our 17 chairs are fully occupied at the moment.
“This will allow us to actually provide dialysis into the future knowing that the growth is occurring at a rate far greater than the growth of the hospital services.”
(Original article published by The Daily Telegraph with permissions https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/townsville/townsville-hospital-to-receive-new-dialysis-machines/news-story/3fa8cfbf2023df076ba98fbb4f55f622 )
