Op Shop Supports Hospitals move into Digital Age
19 July 2010
The clothes are sold at the some of the cheapest prices going around, but the volunteers who run the Hospital Opportunity Shop have obviously been working overtime. Last month they were able to present a cheque to Western District Chief Executive Officer Mr Jim Fletcher for an extraordinary $36,000 to purchase a high definition videocolonoscope for the Hamilton Base Hospital operating theatre which is now been put to good use.
The videocolonoscope, as the name suggests, is a small camera that is used during surgery (such as in a colonoscopy) it uses high definition video imagery, and allows surgeons to work with a greater degree of accuracy and efficiency. The videocolonoscope, and the future complete digitisation of the hospital’s theatres, will lead to better surgical outcomes, faster recovery times for patients, and a greater degree of efficiency in the theatre.
MS Essie Hickleton, coordinator of the Hospital Op Shop said “the volunteers were all very proud to be involved in assisting the Hamilton Base Hospital to become one of the first regional and rural hospitals in Victoria to introduce state of the art digital technology equipment”. 
“It’s just wonderful to know that the work we’ve done is already helping to make a difference in our community” she said.
Western District Health Service Chief Executive Officer Jim Fletcher said “the Hamilton Base Hospital Op shop team of volunteers have supported the hospital and community for in excess of 70 years and every year they continue to amaze us with their fundraising efforts”.
“We are extremely fortunate and grateful that we have such a dedicated team who work tirelessly to raise funds for the purchase of state of the art medical and surgical equipment to assist the health service to provide the community with access to the most up to date equipment available” he said.
Photo: L-R Op Shop Volunteers - Ruth Arnold, Olive Walker, Jean Ross, Dianne Price, Pat Harris,
Essie Hickleton, Muriel Bailey, Margaret Perkins, Liska Greyling (front kneeling) Theatre Manager, WDHS