The Milton-Ulladulla Hospital has been at the centre of some unfortunate news in the past couple of years so it’s refreshing to report the opening of the hard-fought Renal and Palliative Care Unit.
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Families of people with terminal illness or needing dialysis will see the burden of travelling up and down the highway lifted.
That trip, in often tragic or painful circumstances, is an additional form of stress in an already extremely challenging time.
To have renal and palliative care services available locally is long overdue and therefore welcome for a community that in recent years has seen services diminished at their local hospital.
While the NSW government is to be applauded for providing the $4.6 million to fund the establishment of the unit, the real heroes in this tale are the Milton Ulladulla Hospital Auxiliary and Milton Outpatients Appeal Committee.
Their relentless lobbying and fundraising over many years have finally paid off, a fact not lost on South Coast MP Shelley Hancock and Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District chief executive Margot Mains. Both paid tribute to the community groups and singled out the late Narelle Ober for mention.
While Narelle passed away before the unit, for which she fought so hard was opened, her memory will live on. One of the patient respite rooms will be named after her – the Narelle Ober OAM Patient and Family Room.
The seven-chair dialysis facility will make for a huge improvement in the lives of kidney disease sufferers, who can now receive the treatment that keeps them alive much closer to home.
The daily grind of travelling long distances on a road that can be quite treacherous and then having to turn around and drive back is almost beyond imagining.
The community recognised this long ago and rolled up its sleeves and got on with campaigning. It’s something we do very well in Milton Ulladulla.
Our determination is directed to great effect not just in pursuing new services and facilities but in fighting to save or restore those which have been taken from us.
We have seen that in the ongoing battle to have maternity services restored at our hospital. That fight has some way to go, but with the same pluck with which we’ve campaigned for the Renal and Palliative Care Unit, we should be confident of pulling it off.