Community
16 May, 2025
Appeal continues for chemo chairs
IN just two short months more than $77,000 has been generously donated by the community towards the cost of 11 new chairs for cancer patients at South West Healthcare.
The current “fleet” of chemotherapy treatment chairs need to be replaced to ensure patients are comfortable during their visits to the Day Oncology Unit in the South West Regional Cancer Centre.
The total cost of replacement will be just over $92,000 – with the chairs costing $8,374 each.
The current chairs have been used 19,000 times since the day oncology unit was relocated from the Warrnambool Base Hospital to the South West Regional Cancer Centre in 2017.
On each of these occasions, a cancer patient has sat in one of them for at least three hours – with some patients enduring up to eight hours of treatment each visit.
“The current chairs have been well used but it’s time to replace them before they become uncomfortable; that’s the last thing we want for our patients,” South West Heathcare’s Suzan Morey said.
“We launched an appeal on March 21 with a generous donation of $2,650 from the Warrnambool Kruzin Classics.
“It (the appeal) has been going great guns ever since, with some very generous donations, and we now only need just under $15,000 to reach our target.”
Students from Hawkesdale P12 College visited the oncology unit late last week to donate $208.80 towards the appeal – money raised last year by the then year eight commerce class.
“Last year, through our enterprise program, we raised $417 and we decided to donate half towards the chairs and the other half to Foodshare,” student Sam Mooney said.
“This oncology unit is amazing and patients going through treatment deserve to be as comfortable as possible; the new chairs will be great.”
Director of cancer services, Andrea Janes, said the new chairs will provide added comfort to patients.
“Our existing chairs are nearing the end of their lifespan and our patients deserve to sit in comfort while going through treatment,” Ms Janes said.
“On average, our patients sit here for around three hours per session but for some that can be as long as eight hours.
“This is a very challenging and emotional time for them, so if we can help to make them a little more comfortable that’s what we’re all about.”
The new chairs will also feature charging points for laptops, phones and other devices, will recline to an almost horizontal position and will be easily moveable – allowing patients to enjoy views of the ocean and centre surrounds.
“This unit can get extremely busy; we can have up to 11 patients at a time along with four nursing staff, two doctors and a pharmacist so the area can get hectic,” Ms Janes said.
“The unit operates four days a week and on any given Wednesday we can see up to 23 patients. We’re all looking forward to the arrival of the new chairs.”
Anyone wishing to make a donation towards the new chairs can contact Suzan Morey on 5564 4100 or email smorey@swh.net.au
It is hoped the new chairs will arrive sometime around September.
