Cooktown Hospital staff Paula Archer, Fiona Gibson, Irvin Siddayao and David Chung check out one of the I-STAT monitoring devices with Friends of the Foundation president Daphne Fenton. Photo: Supplied.
Forgetful post office box keyholders are among donors helping to buy medical equipment for the Cooktown Hospital.
Two i-STAT patient monitoring devices have been purchased for the facility through the hard work of volunteers and a number of innovative fundraising initiatives co-ordinated by the Cooktown Hospital Friends of the Foundation (CHFF).
CHFF president Daphne Fenton explained when people forgot their post office key, they gave a gold coin donation to the organisation, which was then added to the pot of funds raised throughout the Cooktown community.
“Our biggest fundraiser is our biannual fete, which is well supported by residents and surrounding communities,” she said.
“Our business houses are extremely generous with their support, which allows us to run a successful event.”
Cooktown Hospital community health nurse unit manager Narelle Stokes thanked the community for its generous support and said the two i-STAT devices, valued at $20,000, allowed the local renal unit and community health staff to undertake point-of-care testing.
“For community health, it allows us to provide an additional service to the community and reduce the patients returning to the emergency department to have these tests done,” Ms Stokes said.
“For the renal unit, it allows the team to easily access a point-of-care pathology result for regular and/or emergent monitoring of their clients.
“This gives the ability to speak with the medical team or nephrologist with the latest results.”
The CHFF is a subsidiary of the Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation, which has raised more than $27 million for the region since it began in 1997.
