IN just one night, more than $1.1 million has been raised by the FNQ community to bring life-saving new services to Cairns Hospital patients.
A crowd of 128 guests at the Far North Queensland Hospital Foundation’s annual donor dinner at the Cairns Showgrounds on Saturday night, raised the incredible sum towards establishing an ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) service at Cairns Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.
ECMO is one of the most advanced forms of life support, used when a patient’s heart and lungs can no longer function on their own, providing critical time for recovery in some of the most serious medical emergencies.
While that was the original aim, guests were so philanthropic towards the ECMO that the $800,000 goal was exceeded, meaning with donor approval, additional funds will be put towards an orthopaedic surgery imaging system.
Foundation CEO Gina Hogan said the result demonstrated the extraordinary impact a community could have when it comes together behind a shared vision for healthcare.
“We were overwhelmed by the generosity shown on the night. It is a privilege for the Foundation to bring together our philanthropic community, who all share the same goal of improving healthcare for people across Far North Queensland,” Mrs Hogan said
“The impact of one is meaningful. The impact of many is transformational. Because of this support, we can now establish an ECMO stabilisation service in Cairns, helping critically unwell patients access life-saving treatment sooner.”
Currently, patients who require ECMO rely on a specialist retrieval team which must travel from Brisbane to initiate treatment, a process that can take up to 12 hours. With this equipment and training available locally, patients will be able to be placed on ECMO within hours.
“In a critical situation, minutes and hours can make all the difference. That is why this support from our community is so important, and why the impact of this generosity will be felt by patients and families across our region for many years to come.” Mrs Hogan said.
Guests at the dinner heard about the impact this service could have locally, with funds raised on the night meaning the equipment and training can be ordered.
Attendees also heard from Cairns local Brett Goldban, often labelled a miracle man, after he was repatriated from Japan to the Prince Charles Hospital in an extremely critical condition. During his high-risk health incident there were many occasions that his life hung in the balance, but with the input of hundreds of clinicians and even airport staff, he lived to tell the tale.
The Foundation sourced a demo model of the ECMO equipment so attendees could visualise how the equipment might be used in real life.
“We were lucky that we work closely with the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service on a list of equipment that we can fundraise towards. The fact we were able to finalise the ECMO fundraising so quickly meant we could start fundraising for the next equipment – a CT device that can be used initially on spinal patients while they are undergoing surgery,” Mrs Hogan said.
“It means when surgeons are placing nails and screws during a procedure, they can check the placement, right there in the theatre, without having to take them (still anaesthetised) down to Medical Imaging to check,” she said.
“Our community is incredibly lucky that we have such forward-thinking clinicians and executive who are so passionate about bringing the best services and equipment to our region. It’s a privilege to support them in achieving their goals for patient outcomes.”
Mrs Hogan said the night reflected the region’s strong commitment to better healthcare outcomes.
“This event reflects what is so powerful about our region – people coming together to make a tangible difference for others,” she said.
“The support shown on the night has helped us make ECMO capability a reality in Cairns and brought us a step closer towards the surgical imaging equipment.”
The annual donor dinner also acknowledged the generosity of supporters, whose contributions continue to strengthen healthcare services across Far North Queensland.
Significant donations towards the projects were made by KenFrost Homes, the Chapman Foundation, Bresnahan Family, Ellis and Denise Richardson, Mills Family Foundation, Fowler’s Group and EMS Exports
