Centuria donates $162,000 worth of hospital equipment

Upcycled to local and international charities

Andrew Hemming, Centuria Healthcare Managing Director, said, “We invest in sustainable properties and often this includes fund-through developments to ensure a fit-for-purpose asset that suits an operator’s needs. This Kew development provided us with an opportunity to further extend our sustainability reach by upcycling and recycling equipment that would otherwise be landfill.

“It’s rewarding to know we are assisting local and international charities with essential, second-hand equipment that ensures fewer outgoing costs for them while expanding the number of people who are in need of everyday healthcare items.”

Recipient charities included:

NAME	DISTRIBUTION	PROVISION	TRUCKLOADS
Shannon’s Bridge	Country Victoria	Palliative homecare	4
Rotary’s Donations In Kind	International	Provides donated items to developing countries	1
Salvation Army	Melbourne	Various	2
Rotary Inner Melbourne Emergency Relief Network (RIMERN)	Melbourne’s western suburbs	Distributes donated furniture and household goods	3
Private individual	Melbourne and Lebanon	Beirut hospitals, Melbourne nursing homes and a southeast Melbourne not-for-profit hospital	3
Recycled material	n/a	Stripping metal from shelving, hand basins, X-ray equipment and doors	5

 

Rotary’s Donations in Kind volunteer, Bob Glindemann, said, “Donations In Kind started in Victoria in 1978. Among other initiatives, we ship containers of medical and healthcare equipment to Pacific Island and African nations including Timor Leste, Tonga, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Somaliland.

“Rotary covers the cost of shipping and logistics but relies on items to be donated from organisations and individuals. Items we’ve collected from the former Kew hospital, such as patient transfer trollies, hospital beds and mobility aids, will be used within rudimentary healthcare facilities where the patients would otherwise be transported in a canvas bag or sleep on the floor. These donations make a meaningful difference to patient treatment and care.”

Jeremy Knight from Shannon’s Bridge, commented, “Shannon’s Bridge is a registered charity run by volunteers. We work with families and communities to upskill and equip them to deal with end of life issues when someone is caring, dying or grieving. With no recurrent funding, the charity relies on donations including equipment to help people live in their preferred place of care. The items we’ve collected from the Kew site will be used and upcycled further in the community to better support home based palliative care.”

Gilly Swinnerton, RIMERN representative, added that the donated items her organisation collected will help those most vulnerable in the inner Melbourne community. “We assist those who have left a domestically violent household or refuges who have been provided with accommodation but have no furnishings. Things like armchairs, dining chairs, coffee tables, side tables and sofas, which we collected from the Kew site, will help transform meagre accommodation into a home. We, and our recipients, are thankful for these donations.”

All items within the dilapidated Kew Hospital have been collected and distributed. The site is vacant and currently awaiting demolition. Construction of the new hospital will begin later in 2022.