Free travel
Patients who rely on life saving dialysis at West Gippsland Hospital each week will benefit from a new Bendigo Bank Cluster donation fund.
Drouin and District Community Bank delivered $5000 to the Haemodialysis Unit to West Gippsland Hospital for the purchase of a new Bariatric Dialysis Chair to improve comfort for patients.
Drouin and District Community Bank chairman Rod Dunlop, said the bank was delighted to assist the hospital with this life saving service.
“This donation is part of a new $75,000 Gippsland Bendigo Community Banks Cluster funding initiative. Community banks across Gippsland will be contributing to hospitals and aged care centres in the coming months through this fund. Drouin and District Community Bank is pleased to allocate its share of cluster funding to support West Gippsland Hospital.”
WGHG nurse unit manager Suzanne Griffiths welcomed the support.
“Patients whose kidneys fail generally attend the clinic three days a week and sit in a dialysis chair for treatment that usually lasts between four to five hours. This additional dialysis chair provides a number of features that will help to make this time more comfortable.”
Since its inception, Drouin and District Community Bank Chair has returned close to $6 million to its community in donations and dividends.
Rod Dunlop said the donation to West Gippsland Hospital will add to that impressive total.
Victorians will be able to catch the train, tram or bus for free on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve thanks to the Andrews Labor Government
Public transport will be free from 3am on Christmas Day until 3am on Boxing Day with services running to a Sunday timetable, making public transport the best way to get out and enjoy the end-of-year festivities.
As the decade draws to a close, more than 500 extra services will be scheduled on New Year’s Eve to help get everyone home safely and easily after the celebrations.
All metropolitan and regional public transport will be free on New Year’s Eve, from 6pm until 6am on New Year’s Day, including the first regional train services departing the city.
On New Year’s Eve, train and tram services will operate all night, with trains every 8-10 minutes until 1.45am and trams every 5-10 minutes until 2am helping everyone get home quickly and easily after the fireworks.
On the regional network, extra V/Line train services and night coaches will be in operation into the early hours of New Year’s Day across the state.
V/Line passengers on long-distance train and coach services are urged to reserve seats on Christmas and New Year’s Eve services as there is traditionally a high demand on these days.