THE Innisfail community has once again stepped forward to support their local health service.
The Catalano Family Foundation has donated $25,000 to the Innisfail Hospital Friends of the Foundation, to enable them to buy a motorised patient trolley for Innisfail Hospital.
Innisfail Friends president Estelle Kopp said the family approached her, wanting to support their local health service.
“They’re a local family, they’ve been through alot and they want to support their local community,” Mrs Kopp said.
“We approached the hospital who identified this item as something that will make a difference to patients and that ticks the box for all of us,” she said.
Innisfail Hospital Emergency Department Acting Nurse Unit Manager Lillian Speziali said the trolley would be used to transport patients from the Emergency Department to the Innisfail Hospital helipad.
“We are very appreciative of the hard work the Friends of the Foundation to support our Emergency Department with the purchase of a much-needed new helipad retrieval trolley. No doubt the public are aware of how much we use the Rescue 510 services, sometimes several times a week. The trolley will be an invaluable investment to our ED department providing safe transport from ED to the helicopter.”
The Catalano Family story in Far North Queensland began in 1924 when Sam’s father emigrated from Italy, starting a new life as a farm labourer cutting cane and starting a family in the little town of Garradunga.
He started making investments to provide for his family to create a better life.
Sam Catalano Jnr left school at age 13, started work on the family farm and grazing small crops. He later found his own success through cane, cattle, timber, property investments and quarry operations including the production and distribution of Min Plus, his pet project.
He has offered support to many in the community including family, business partners and colleagues.
Mr Catalano has suffered many family losses including his wife to early onset dementia and his daughter to cancer.
“Losing a loved one puts things into perspective,” Mr Catalano said.
“I wanted to give back to the community and specifically now the organisations that have helped us throughout the journey of caring for a sick loved one. My wife Dorothy was one of those patients who needed the services of the helipad and if our donation helps the nursing staff and doctors do their job safely transporting patients and more efficiently, we were happy to help. I have been successful in business and it has been no easy ride and not without its heartaches, but knowing I can help and make a difference in someone’s life is extremely humbling.”
The Catalano Family Foundation last year supported the Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation with a $55, 000 donation to Intensive Care at Cairns Hospital.
Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation Acting CEO Joe Cristaldi paid tribute to the Catalano Family for their support of their community.
“Donations such as this are integral to helping us support the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service, in their vital work. We’re about putting the icing on the cake of the health service and this donation certainly does that,” Mr Cristaldi said.