I rise to make comment on the Moyne Health Services annual report for 2006-07.
If we were to go back 159 years, I would be making this statement on a report on
a four-roomed cottage at 40 James Street, Belfast. Over the past 159 years of
its existence, Moyne Health Services has grown into a multimillion-dollar health
service encompassing almost an entire block and providing a number of health
services essential to the Moyne shire. Those services include acute hospital
care, aged care with residential and home-based services, and primary care.
Moyne Health Services includes country Victoria’s oldest
hospital, the Port Fairy Hospital, which has a grand history of service to the
community. All those associated with the hospital have very good reason to feel
extremely proud of its service and very long history.
During the reporting period Ms Kerry Robertson was elected
president of the board of management of the hospital, replacing Gerard Dwyer. I
make special mention of Mr Dwyer, as he had been a member of the board since
1975 and served as president for 13 years.
While I am mentioning personal achievements, I also wish to
make note of two teams from Moyne Health Services who, in April 2007, took part
in Woody’s Murray to Moyne bike ride, raising $22 000 for the health service.
The Port Fairy Hospital team was led by Jenny McCarthy and the Belfast Bikers
were led by Kate Winnen. Kate is the daughter of Graham Woodrup, after whom
Woody’s Murray to Moyne bike ride is named. I take this opportunity to
congratulate both women and their teams on their enormous efforts and
achievements and the contributions they have made not just in taking this ride
but also in organising their teams and everything else that goes with it.
Last year Woody’s Murray to Moyne bike ride celebrated its 21st
year, with the event having 1628 riders comprising 172 teams from different
hospitals and health-related organisations right across Victoria, and raising
more than $1.28 million. What a fantastic event! It is no doubt embraced by the
entire Port Fairy community, which I witnessed when I was in Port Fairy for the
2007 bike ride. Many people were lined up along Bank Street, all prepared and
encouraging the bike riders as they entered Port Fairy that morning. It was not
until that morning when I was driving from Port Fairy to Hamilton that I
understood the enormous size of the event. There were literally hundreds of bike
riders on the road that day, going in the opposite direction. Most of the bike
riders had come from Mildura, Swan Hill or Echuca. There is a
mandatory stop in Hamilton overnight and that is why we saw so many cyclists
that morning.
The event is steeped in history. The very first event was
initiated to raise money for the Port Fairy Hospital but it now attracts
participation from hospitals and health services right across the state. It is
clear that there is continuous support by the local community and various
auxiliaries. As a result of the support and the fundraising people are involved
in, the local community was able to purchase new equipment, including a new
automatic defibrillator for cardiac emergencies, a digital chair to assist
residents’ monthly weigh-ins, and a high-flow oxygen generator and attachments
for the emergency department, to name just a few.
Several times throughout the report there is reference to the
work that volunteers do in Moyne Health Services. This does not go unnoticed by
any means.
I pay tribute to the cross-generational support that is
evident. You see daughters, mothers, uncles and grandparents working side by
side to raise funds for this important service.