MORE than $33,000 worth of equipment will be bought for Atherton Hospital as a result of an auction and cent sale last Saturday.
The auction of donated items from the former Atherton Hospital nurses quarters netted $27,000 for the Atherton Friends of the Hospital Foundation, with more than 100 registered bidders eagerly vying for items of unique history.
Funds will go to the Atherton Friends of the Hospital Foundation, a subsidiary of the Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation.
Foundation CEO Tony Williamson, a licensed real estate agent and auctioneer, facilitated the auction and was delighted with the result.
“We had a lot of really keen interest in many items, but particularly the beautiful arched windows, casement windows, the gynaecology bed, vintage high chair – there was an incredible array of historic items,” Mr Williamson said.
The vintage Beale piano sold for $800 to an Atherton local who bought it for his music student son, and the arched windows went for a total of $12,000.
Mr Williamson paid tribute to the many volunteers who pulled the auction together, but also the Atherton Hospital Redevelopment project team, who negotiated salvaging the items as part of the construction contract and made sure they were saved from the old building before it was removed from the site.
“It took the project team and staff from the health services’ Building Engineering and Maintenance Services a couple of weeks to remove all items from the old Primary Health Centre. Their efforts, along with those of the Foundation, have been richly rewarded with this excellent outcome,” he said.
In addition to the auction, the Friends held their inaugural cent sale on the same day, generating a further $5800 for health services in the local community.
“We’d like to thank everyone who came out and supported the local community and we know many people will now have a piece of local history to treasure,” Mr Williamson said. “This was the Atherton Friends’ biggest fundraising to date and builds on a really local history of supporting the hospital.”
Atherton Friends of the Hospital Foundation president Di Williams was equally thrilled with the outcome of the day.
“Everyone pulled together so well – we all worked really hard on the different aspects we were working on, everyone was really positive, we had amazing feedback and it was a great atmosphere,” Mrs Williams said.
“We would like to sincerely to thank everyone, near and far who supported and continue to support us in our work to improve health outcomes in Atherton, she said.
