Cash raised for hospital upgrades

AFTER months of community fundraising, Creswick’s health service is set to see significant redevelopments.

More than $150,000 has been secured to upgrade Central Highlands Rural Health’s Creswick Hospital and Residential Aged Care facility.

Cash from the campaign will cover the building material shortages to deliver stage four of the works to provide a sub-acute and aged care facility for the site.

Central Highlands Rural Health fundraising chair Kate Redwood said the campaign’s success showcased the Creswick community’s dedication.

“This is a remarkable achievement by a small town. We thank the many Creswick donors who supported the hospital upgrade campaign,” she said.

“We particularly thank the Creswick Community Bank for their support with this campaign but also their staunch support for the Creswick Hospital over many years.

“We are all immensely proud of the hospital and of the shared fundraising achievement.”

The campaign closed in late October with the team $20,000 short of the goal before an anonymous donor helped fill the funding shortfall.

Prior to that, the initiative was kicked off with Community Bank Creswick and District’s matching donations for the first $33,000 raised for the campaign.

Community groups contributed nearly $40,000, while cash from raffle events and Creswick Hospital’s 160 Year Dinner also added to the total.

Works on the hospital started in 2019, and Creswick Health Upgrade Appeal Committee chair Bob Orr said it’s been a much-loved facility in the community for decades.

“The people of Creswick and district have been generous in their support for the provision of health and hospital facilities in Creswick since 1855,” he said.

“Attainment of the $150,000 target for the 2023 Creswick Health Upgrade Appeal is another demonstration of this generosity.”

The Creswick community previously fundraised for the hospital during the 1990s, raising $1 million to keep it in operation.