Lions answer call for birthing bed
Mothers planning to have their babies at West Gippsland Hospital now have access to modern ergonomic birthing beds in all four birthing suites.
This follows a generous $23,000 donation from Warragul Lions Club and Australian Lions Foundation to purchase a new birthing bed to replace an older bed unit in the hospital’s fourth birthing suite.
Clinical operations director Kathy Kinrade, said the donation would greatly assist patient care.
“The bed is designed to adapt to different positions and emergency procedures and offers ergonomic and back safety features for the patient and the care giver.
“The birthing bed was listed as one of the high priority items on our Annual Hospital Equipment Appeal.
“While three of our birthing suites have the high tech beds, our fourth suite had an older style bed which was difficult to raise up and down and parts were no longer available for repair work.”
West Gippsland Healthcare Group board chairman Christine Holland said the donation underlined the hard work and generosity of Lions Club of Warragul members who work tirelessly throughout the year to support their community.
The donation was supported by a grant from the Australian lions Foundation.
Lions president Peter Hammond said the community had strongly supported its fundraisers throughout the year, enabling the club to make a significant donation.
“We had strong support from sale of fire wood, Lions mints and catering activities. Our committee and members get a lot of satisfaction knowing that the work we do directly benefits our community and the hospital,” he said.