Lion’s service lives on

12 Dec 2022

TED Simms’ service to others is living on long after his passing, thanks to his bequest to the Cairns Lions Club which has chosen to fund a piece of equipment that has already diagnosed people living in Bamaga and Thursday Island.
The portable fibroscan machine is a vital device used by the Liver Clinic, Outreach Team, and Cairns Sexual Health Service for early detection of fatty liver disease, liver cancer and other liver conditions.
While there is a large device available at Cairns Hospital, the new portable one is the first for Far North Queensland and will be heavily used on outreach visits throughout Cape York.
Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service Director of Sexual Health Dr Darren Russell said the very generous gift would allow staff to easily assess a person’s liver health and their stage of disease.
“Being so portable it means that it can be carried to communities through the Torres Strait and Cape York regions,” Dr Russell said.
“It can be used to stage people’s liver disease for a variety of conditions such as viral hepatitis, fatty liver, and alcoholic liver disease. Treatments can then be put in place earlier, leading to better outcomes for the person and their community. We are incredibly grateful to the Cairns Lions Club and to Mr Simms for making this life-saving technology available to the Far North community,” he said.
In 2020, liver disease was the 23rd leading cause of death in Australia. The portable fibroscan machine will be a vital device for saving lives through early detection of fibrosis before becoming cirrhosis and fatty liver disease which helps prevent late diagnosis of liver cancer.
Liver disease affects one in three Australians. The common causes are alcohol, hepatitis C, hepatitis B and now obesity-related fatty liver disease. Aboriginal and Torres strait people are at more risk of developing liver disease. In the 2016 census the total population of Torres strait and Cape York remote communities was 24, 319 people with 360 Aboriginal and Torres strait patients with a diagnosis of Hepatitis B, 1.5 % prevalence of Hepatitis B.
“Patients and clinicians have been very excited with the news of the new portable mini fibro scan machine, especially from the most recent outreach trip to Bamaga and Thursday Island in October 2022, where the Hepatitis B Nurse fibro scanned 42 patients and detected early fibrosis in 10 of the 42 patients and detected an early Cirrhosis diagnosis in 1 patient,” Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service Research Coordinator Sharna Radlof said.
“Patients have been so excited that they get the machine brought to their remote areas, so they don’t have to travel all the way to Cairns to access health care.  When clinicians and nurses hear that Sharna is travelling to the remote communities, everyone wants to book their patients in! We have received an increase of Fibro scan referrals for non- Hepatitis B – Liver related diseases also.  
The new portable fibro scan machine has made an incredibly positive impact on both patients and clinicians and is now helping us optimise the care of people living with Liver disease.  The New fibro scan machine will improve the delivery of HBV care and Liver disease. Hospital admissions due to liver cirrhosis in Queensland increased by 61.7% from 2008 to 2016.  
Cairns Lions Club secretary Ken Gorton said once the decision was made to purchase the $80, 000 device, he successfully applied to the Australian Lions Foundation for a $15, 000 grant and the Lions Club International Foundation for a $27, 000 grant.
The Cairns Lions Club contributed $6000 to add to the Ted Simms’ bequest $33, 000 to the club towards a charitable work of its choosing, Mr Gorton said. “It was particularly good to receive the money from the Lions Club International Foundation. They have a heavy focus on supporting third world countries and Indigenous communities and they liked that it would be used in Cape York and Torres Strait communities,” he said.
Mr Simms’ daughter Tricia Waldby expressed gratitude to the Cairns Lions Club for their choice of project for her father’s bequest and also for their efforts to harness support from the wider Lions international community.
She said Mr Simms would have been very proud that his bequest facilitated such a worthwhile and much-needed piece of medical equipment for the people in remote areas of Far North Queensland.
The device’s purchase was enabled through the Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation.
CEO Gina Hogan paid tribute to the very hard work of Mr Gorton and others in Cairns Lions Club for their dedication and persistence in sourcing funds to buy the equipment.
“It’s really a great delight to see all of this come together. Not only is Mr Simms’ bequest going to something that is going to make a difference to patient outcomes, but it will save lives. There’s no better legacy is there, than leaving a gift that will make that contribution,” Mrs Hogan said.

Photo: (TOP) Ken Gorton undergoes a fibroscan courtesy of Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service Research Coordinator Sharna Radlof, overseen by Dr Darren Russell, Lions district governor Michael Maclaren, Lions Cairns representative michael McGrann, Foundation CEO Gina Hogan, Lions Cairns representative Des Tong and Lions Cairns president Ken Rowlingson.

MIDDLE: Ted Simms

ABOVE: Health Worker Coordinator Morgan Dempsey, Michael McGrann Lions Cairns, Ken Gorton Lions Cairns, Sharna Radlof, Foundation CEO Gina Hogan, Lions District Governor Michael Maclaren, Cairns District Lions Club President Ken Rowlingson, Dr Darren Russell, Des Tong Lions Cairns, Jo Lynes, Barrier Reef lions Club and Vice District Governor.

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