Ten per cent of hospital target already accomplished

A million dollar mission to secure life-saving equipment for the cash-strapped Maitland Hospital is one step closer to its target.

Maitland Hospital Foundation – the fund-raising body behind the $1.3 million project – has knocked 10 per cent off its challenge with $150,000 in donations from the recent Scottish-themed fund-raiser at Lovedale.

The foundation has identified a priority list of 65 vital pieces of medical equipment urgently needed by the hospital including a $57,000 anaesthetic machine, a $115,705 ultrasound machine and various heart monitors.

“This priority list is big. But we are here for the long haul,” foundation chairman Greg Farrow said.

Hunter-based project homebuilder McDonald Jones Homes has recently donated $10,000 to the project.

The money has gone towards an ECG machine for the hospital’s emergency department and a failsafe intravenous machine for sick mothers.

“I never hesitate to get behind the Maitland Hospital Foundation as a lot of people in Maitland and throughout the region have built a home with McDonald Jones and this is one way we can say thanks and give something back to the community,” Bill McDonald from McDonald Jones Homes said.

“I’m delighted that the funds we donated will go some way to helping the wonderful staff at Maitland Hospital deliver the care needed by patients.”