Monday, July 2 1979
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The 35-year battle for a new hospital at Shepparton is virtually over.
Date for occupation of the new $11 million Goulburn Valley Base Hospital has now been confirmed.
The hospital’s management committee was advised on Friday by State Treasury and the Health Commission that finance for staffing the new hospital had substantially been approved.
Full nursing and paramedic staff increases have been approved, and staffing of food supply services will be finalised this week.
Chairman of the management committee, Mr Graham Hill, said today the committee could now confirm that occupation of the Base Hospital at Shepparton would take place on the weekend of August 11 and 12.
Tremendous activity has been taking place in the past three weeks concerning the increase in staff necessary and without which the hospital could not have opened.
Mr Hill said the committee acknowledged the tremendous assistance given by the Member for Shepparton Mr Peter Ross-Edwards.
Occupation of the new hospital will be a momentous event for the Goulburn Valley ... coming 35 years after it was first mooted.
The new hospital will be officially opened by the Governor, Sir Henry Winneke, on July 22 at 2.30 pm.
Sir Henry and Lady Winneke will be attending an open day at which the public is invited to inspect the wards, theatres and buildings prior to occupation.
The actual transfer of equipment and patients will be carried out on the weekend of August 11 and 12 with almost military precision.
All patients will be transferred by ambulance, while a total of 13 organisations from Shepparton and Mooroopna will shift the various departments under a highly organised plan.
At a meeting last week, service clubs gave their unqualified support to provide the manpower and vehicles necessary for the changeover.
Service clubs have each been allocated a department at Mooroopna Hospital to transfer and will work under the head of department.
Organisations which will be involved include Shepparton and Sherbourne Apex, Shepparton and Shepparton South Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, Shepparton Jaycees, Shepparton Rotaract, GV Ambulance, Uncle Bobs, Masonic fraternity and the Hospital Ladies Auxiliary.
After August 12 all admissions will be at Shepparton.
“The opening is something the public of Shepparton deserve and for which they have waited a long time. It is a great moment for the committee to be able to confirm the occupation,” Mr Hill said.
Mr Hill said there would be a scaling down of elective surgery before the changeover so as to reduce the number of patients having to be transferred.
The co-operation of medical staff had been forthcoming in agreeing to this.
The next major step at Shepparton will be to get Phase Two of Stage Two completed, getting physiotherapy, medical records, speech pathology and audiology into their permanent sections, instead of temporary quarters as at present.
The committee has been given permission to prepare working drawings for the necessary alterations, estimated to cost $500,000.
These will go to the Health Commission in the near future.
The transfer from Mooroopna will involve all but Grutzner House, where geriatric patients will remain.
The committee has plans under way for the restructuring of Mooroopna Hospital for elderly people.
Monday, March 31, 1980
Ever seen a granny with hives?
Mr Bryan Butterfield made a rare find on his orchard in Invergordon recently.
A swarm of bees landed on one of his Granny Smith apple trees and rested there while the scout bees of the swarm searched around for an appropriate place for a new hive.
Being as busy as bees are, the swarm's wait was not idly spent buzzing away time.
They began to develop a hive on one of the apples.
Mr Butterfield owns eight hives and he has only seen the hive phenomenon form on a piece of fruit twice in 12 years.