Toyota Australia donates support vehicles to help keep Heart of Australia staff on the road.
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Going the extra distance
Delivering quality, frontline specialist medical investigation and treatment clinics to regional, rural and remote area communities across Queensland is challenging. We didn’t know quite how challenging it would be until we started to do it.
We could not deliver the service without the ongoing support of people throughout the Queensland and Australian community, including the support of donations large and small.
In October, the Longreach School of Distance Education (LSODE) P&C committee held a long lunch, with a percentage of funds raised being donated to the Heart of Australia program, which makes fortnightly visits to Longreach with the Heart Bus.
Sally Cooper, Secretary of LSODE P&C said the lunch was a fun, casual afternoon with friends and family coming together in a picnic-style gathering.
“The LSODE families have received amazing support over the many years of drought, so we decided we’d like to give back to those that have supported us by supporting the Heart of Australia.”
“We appreciate the efforts that the Heart of Australia team goes to, to provide services to our region that would not otherwise be available. These services are lifesaving and if they were not available, many people out here would go without or have to travel thousands of kilometres at great expense to get such treatment and services. So we are very grateful to Heart of Australia, thank you!”
It is the fantastic community support from fellow Queenslanders, no matter how large or how small, that ensures Heart of Australia remains on the road, in small towns, providing essential services to remote and rural Queenslanders.
– We continue to appreciate the welcome we receive from every community we visit, and the support we receive from partners and supporters throughout Australia that makes this work possible.
Inspiring future doctors with a taste of outback medicine
Our team has fallen in love with providing medical services to the people of outback Queensland. And if Verity Chadwick is any indication, we aren’t the only ones. Inspired by Dr Gomes’ episodes on Australian Story, Sydney-based medical student Verity reached out to Heart of Australia to donate her time and skills on the final Heart Bus rotation for 2017.
“I chose to volunteer because I like the innovative approach by which Heart of Australia provides cardiovascular care to remote and under-resourced communities,” Verity said.
Thanks to the support of some generous locals in the towns on our route, Verity not only experienced life as a medical student on board the truck but was also treated to some personalised tours of our regional towns, giving her a true appreciation and insight into the beauty of the regions and the people who live and work there, as well as the challenges.
“The time spent with the Heart of Australia team – was intense and a genuine portrayal of what life on the road as a cardiology clinic really is. The communities were so open and easy-going, and the waiting room always full of characters willing to chat about almost anything from the weather to the issues they face in their communities.”
We think we’ve made a convert out of Verity, and we hope to welcome more medical students onto the truck in the future, to showcase the beauty of the outback and our regional communities as well as the health access challenges they face. Verity is certainly recommending it to her peers.
“I loved joining the team and would highly recommend it to any fortunate medical student wishing to see the real Australia and help make a difference where it is really needed. “
Rex delivering doctors, crew & equipment to towns
In order to keep the Heart Bus in regional towns for as long as possible, we shuttle our doctors, sonographers and members of the Heart of Australia team in and out for rotations by road, and often by air. By utilising the opportunity to fly our teams in, we minimise the amount of time they need to spend travelling and maximise the amount of time they are potentially available to see patients.
The opportunity to fly in and fly out our team, not to mention the occasional piece of life-saving medical equipment without incurring expensive excess baggage charges, is only made possible thanks to the ongoing support of Regional Express (Rex) airlines. Without their ongoing support, and their commitment to helping regional families access quality specialist services, we would not be able to fly our team all around the state.
Rex Corporate Communications Executive, Mary Blackburn welcomes the opportunity to continue to work with Heart of Australia in 2018.
“Being a regional airline one of our key values is our commitment to giving back to the communities we operate in, by supporting worthwhile causes that contribute to a better quality of life for the wider community.”
“We are excited to partner with Heart of Australia again in 2018, and to be given the opportunity to be a part of the great work Heart of Australia does in providing essential specialist medical services to remote Australian communities.”
Thanks, Rex. For helping deliver us to where our work is needed.
Photo Credit: Cathy Finch Photography
Bayer Media Road Trip
One of our key partners Bayer recently organised a media road-trip to enable key journalists to experience Heart of Australia and witness first-hand the benefits it provides to remote and rural Australians.
A group of journalists representing medical, pharmacy, rural, health industry and local publications travelled to Goondiwindi to meet with Dr Rolf Gomes, Dr Mathew Pincus, Stef Purcell and Chris Wilson where they had the opportunity to ask plenty of questions and received a personalised tour of the clinic. They also met with Mayor Graeme Scheu and local doctors and patients to ask their view on the clinic and what it means for the local people of Goondiwindi.
The journalists were amazed at the size of the clinic and the state-of-the-art medical equipment as well as the passion of the people involved. Paul Cross from the PharmaDispatch publication commented “the experience was incredibly valuable as an opportunity to see firsthand how Bayer’s support for Heart of Australia is benefiting regional communities in Queensland. It was great to meet Dr Rolf Gomes and his team and see the mobile clinic in operation in Goondiwindi”.
Nelson Ambrogio, General Manager of Bayer Pharmaceuticals commented “We were delighted to organise this event and help showcase the fantastic work that Heart of Australia does. Services like Heart of Australia are working to help close the treatment gap between rural and metropolitan communities and reach those most in need, which is why Bayer is proud to be supporting them.
“Bayer’s mission is to utilise science to create better lives for people, plants and animals and our work not only addresses the health needs of Australians, but also supports our agricultural industries and the welfare of animals both large and small. We are partners to many of the farmers across our regional communities and we see firsthand the challenges that they face. We’re committed to our community, which is why we decided to support Dr Gomes’ vision even before the clinic was built and also why the company is committed in its continued involvement” said Mr Ambrogio.
Resulting media coverage from the road-trip has started to appear with plenty more due soon.