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Vol. 17 No. 16
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What’s new? Troll, aka Brian Harrison and Puss, Pam Deckert share a moment in a scene from Horsham Arts Council’s musical production of What’s New Pussycat. Performers have been going through their paces in full-dress rehearsals for the seven-show production, based on the classic story of Puss In Boots, starting at 8pm on Friday night. The musical features rock and pop songs and shows at Horsham Centre Cinema will also be on this Saturday and Sunday and October 23, 24 and 25. Tickets are available from the cinema or by phoning 5382 1249 or emailing centre@ausaf.com.au. Picture: BELINDA ELLIOTT
Cancer centre plan BY DEAN LAWSON
W
immera health-industry leaders have given themselves less than three years to build a new multi million-dollar Wimmera Cancer Centre in Horsham.
Wimmera Health Care Group chief executive Chris Scott has confirmed plans to build the new centre, most likely to cost at least $2-million, by June, 2017. He said a project steering committee was busy scoping out project details to relocate Horsham oncology facilities, a dialysis ward and community palliative care services into one purpose-built centre.
He said plans were that the new centre, mostly likely to be built on a ‘greenfields’ site created on a Wimmera Base Hospital block, would be designed to complement services offered at Ballarat Cancer Centre. “We have envisaged a project costing round the $2-million mark but we don’t want to restrict anything at this stage and want to design something that at first covers what we want, based on the services we offer now and what might be needed in the future. We can then work from there but we see it as an achievable dream,” he said. “We will be looking at futureproofing a dedicated building so we can make sure we can deliver what’s required well
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into the future.” A Wimmera Cancer Centre Project Steering committee formed last month with the health-care group working with Wimmera Health Care Group Foundation and Wimmera Hospice Care Trust. The foundation has launched into major fund-raising activities and has already raised $17,000.
Complementary Mr Scott stressed that the new Wimmera centre was not about replicating services provided at Ballarat and beyond. “It is more about making them more appropriate, more efficient and more focused on delivering a better patient ex-
perience using what services we’re already providing and based on what might confront us in years to come,” he said. “In saying that, the project will be based on a whole-of-region approach and it probably represents an opportunity to bring more specialised services to the Wimmera. “The fundamental reason we’re doing this is that our facilities are under considerable stress. They are services that have grown organically and in doing that we’re finding they are bursting at the seams. Our oncology unit was originally designed more than 12 years ago and the growth and demand in this service area has outstripped the facilities we
have available. It is very tight. “We simply need to develop a dedicated facility. “We’RE looking at a project brief and making sure we have a detailed strategy in place so we can gain support from state and federal governments and the region. There will obviously also be considerable community engagement.” Mr Scott said plans for the proposed Wimmera Cancer Centre, designed to meet the needs of Wimmera southernMallee community, would also provide community outreach services. He added that it needed to be close to Wimmera Base Hospital. “There are a couple of sites
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we’ve identified. We want it to be close to the hospital environment and emergency care that might be required,” he said. Health-care group director Richard Goudie is chairman of the steering committee and foundation trustee Penelope Manserra is his deputy. Representatives from the health group, foundation and hospice care as well as Mr Scott make up the rest of the committee. People in this project can contact Wimmera Health Care Group, Wimmera Health Care Group Foundation or Wimmera Hospice Care Trust.