RONALD MCDONALD HOUSE, NEWCASTLE
Page: 21879
Mr JOHN MILLS: [4.35 p.m.]: Tonight I congratulate Ronald McDonald House charities on the recent opening of their extension to Ronald McDonald House, Newcastle, on the campus at John Hunter Hospital. At lunchtime on Tuesday 14 February I joined about 150 people for the official opening that was carried out by Malcolm Coutts, Chief Executive Officer of Ronald McDonald House charities in Australia. It was a wonderful occasion to celebrate the generosity of the donors who have supported Ronald McDonald House charities and the great work that they do in Ronald McDonald houses all over Australia. Of course, they do other things apart from helping sick kids and their families in hospitals, but in this case that is what they were there for. I thank them and all the donors who made possible Ronald McDonald House in the Hunter.
The chairman of the local committee of management, Ted Lewis, and the executive officer of Ronald McDonald House in the Hunter, Ross Bingham, also deserve credit for the great work they have done, both fund-raising locally and organising a group of volunteers without whom ventures like this would not occur. That great group of volunteers helps families who need to go into Ronald McDonald House in the Hunter. It also runs the family room, which I will describe later. I thank the great team of volunteers associated with Ronald McDonald House in the Hunter. It is important that it is recognised at the outset. The extensions comprise six self-contained units. At the opening the chairman, Malcolm Coutts, said:
I love the passion and involvement of such an outstanding group of volunteers, board members and staff. It has a real sense of community.
The purpose of these houses is to provide accommodation for the families of kids who are very sick, who are in the big referral John Hunter Hospital. Those families can come from anywhere—the northern half of New South Wales and possibly from the Central Coast. I know that families from places such as Tibooburra, the Tweed and the New England area are often there. This is a great place to keep the family together at a time when a sick child needs strong family support. It can be a very difficult time for a family to deal with all the financial and emotional challenges that arise.
The Ronald Macdonald House charities create, find, operate and support programs that help seriously sick kids and their families. They help while the children receive medical treatment and they also assist recovering children to return to normal life. I acknowledge that in addition to Ronald McDonald House at the John Hunter Hospital campus, we have Kookaburra Cottage, which is run by volunteers called the Kookaburra Carers. They used to be called the Pink Ladies when the Royal Newcastle Hospital was the teaching hospital in the Hunter but, with the setting up of John Hunter Hospital in 1991, they changed their name to the Kookaburra Carers because of the surrounding bushland and the wake-up call from kookaburras in the morning. Kookaburra Cottage offers a service similar to Ronald McDonald House but cares also for the families and loved ones of adult patients. I thank the Kookaburra Carers for their work in that regard. Uncle Bob's Yallarwah Place offers culturally appropriate accommodation to Aboriginal families, who often travel from the north and northwest of the State.
The volunteers that I have mentioned help to care for families whose loved ones are in hospital and who are a long way from home. That is the kind of support that we depend on. We have a great public health system in New South Wales but the additional support provided by charities and volunteers helps at a personal level with emotional and family difficulties. I referred earlier to a family room. Ronald McDonald family rooms are being established in paediatric hospitals to give families a place to stay when they cannot go home. The family room at John Hunter Hospital that is run by a group of volunteers has become an Australian best practice model for such rooms. It has helped more than 1,500 families in the past two years. Ronald McDonald House in the Hunter opened in 1991 when John Hunter Hospital opened and since that time more than 5,000 families, an enormous number, have stayed at the house. Thank you and congratulations to Ronald McDonald House and its donors.