Club Visit to Calvary Care Bethlehem
This week’s club meeting took place at Calvary Bethlehem Hospital in South Caulfield, with a continental breakfast served in the St Luke’s Education Centre in their wonderful new premises. Club members were welcomed by David Zerman and Karyn Conway.
Linda O’Brien opened the meeting welcoming everyone indicating it was an informal meeting to be followed by a tour of the premises including the Independent Living apartment building. Club members were joined by Rotary partners Marilyn Brownlees, Leonie Ryan and Gary Ramage. General Manager, Shannon Thompson, welcomed everyone and performed an extensive Welcome To Country paying homage to the local and wider indigenous community in Victoria. Shannon has a 20 year association with Calvary Care and acknowledged the several years association with BMC initiated through the services of Tony Ryan. Calvary Care Health operates health services throughout Australia, including public and Catholic private hospitals, aged care and retirement communities and a range of home care and community based services. Calvary Care Bethlehem is a public funded hospital and provides services across Victoria. The history of Calvary Care in Australia commenced when 5 sisters from The Little Company of Mary travelled to Australia in 1885 and set about to look after the health needs of the local community. Calvary Care Bethlehem’s first services included surgical services and midwifery where over 30,000 babies were born. After moving to the public sector, their services changed - it is now recognised as a leader in its two areas of expertise; as a statewide provider for those with progressive neurological disease (such as Motor Neurone Disease and Huntington’s Disease) and as a Specialist Palliative Care Service. Calvary’s mission is to care for others. With the redevelopment of the new hospital, Calvary developed a residential aged care facility and has an adjoining link to Hyson Retirement Apartments for independent living.
President Glenda thanked our hosts, Shannon Thompson, David Zerman and Karyn Conway for welcoming our club members and hosting a tour. Following the breakfast, club members were invited to see the Jacaranda room – a recreational room for which our club provided funds to furnish the room, a hospital room with up to the minute equipment and facilities, then onto the Chapel – a serene and beautifully curated room, a separate ‘reflection’ room often used for other non-denominational faiths, we observed the beautifully landscaped garden areas, a day centre for the community to use for all sorts of activities, before finally moving to the Hyson Apartments. We were greeted by Simone Cumberlidge, Sales Manager, who provided a tour of the premises that include communal areas, lounge areas, a state of the art movie theatre, a gymnasium, a terrace room with unhindered views of the city and the bay before viewing a luxurious 2 bedroom apartment. There was no doubt about the high standards incorporated in the design of the hospital, aged care facilities and the independent living apartments.
ANNOUNCEMENTS – President Glenda
- Club meeting Wednesday 19/4 – will be a morning meeting at Cilantro (instead of the evening meeting originally scheduled) with PDG Dr Daryl Moran as guest speaker
- Mahjong – has been rescheduled for Thursday 20/4 at The Healey at 7pm
- Next Board Meeting – will be Monday 24/4 in the meeting room above Cilantro at 7.30pm
- SES Visits – will be held on Monday 24/4 with 3 or 4 people at a time in a room to witness a demonstration of use of equipment. Since the date coincides with the next board meeting, a further date to visit SES may be arranged.
- Rosters for next week’s club meeting and the market were announced.
Finally, a Happy Birthday greeting to President Glenda for her birthday on Tuesday 11/4.
