Hospital donation 'will make a fantastic difference'

The arrival of a new fleet of wheelchairs at Melbourne's Epworth Richmond hospital has resulted in the donation of much-needed equipment to boost Fiji's healthcare resources.

The Epworth HealthCare facility is sending 40 of its old wheelchairs to Ba Hospital on Fiji's main island Viti Levu, in partnership with Richmond-based charity The Marsh Foundation.

"Now, we have our new fleet of chairs, we don't need to hold on to the existing wheelchairs," said the private hospital's Executive General Manager, Allison Evans.

"We looked for options to repurpose this equipment to help other patients who might need them."

Epworth's Richmond, Camberwell and Brighton sites have made similar donations in recent years to The Marsh Foundation for distribution free of charge to hospitals in South-East Asia.

Fiji's infrastructure is regularly hit by damage from natural disasters such as tropical storms, and the charity's Logistics Director Simon Wheelton said the wheelchair donation would help patients in the Pacific Island nation.

"It will make a fantastic difference, especially since the natural disasters happened over there," Mr Wheelton said.

"Their hospitals and outpatient services are desperately in need of this sort of equipment – wheelchairs are urgently required."

Read more: $2.5M donation targets pandemic waiting lists

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