Local Newborn Babies And Families To Benefit From Community Funding

Newborn babies and their families will benefit from money raised for West Gippsland Hospital in Hit FM's annual Give Me 5 for Kids campaign. 

The campaign, which ran during June and July this year, raised money for Latrobe Regional Hospital in Traralgon and West Gippsland Hospital in Warragul.

A total of $15,963 was raised for the two hospitals, which was split evenly between them.

Director of Clinical Operations at West Gippsland Hospital, Kathy Kinrade, spoke to Hit FM's Nick & Zoe show this morning and revealed how their share of the money will be spent. 

The recently-expanded Special Care Nursery at the hospital will now benefit from a Bili-Metre, a device designed to measure jaundice in newborn babies. Eliminating the need for a painful and traumatic blood test, a Bili-Metre will provide immediate results with light technology so families will not be left waiting for a blood analysis to return. The device is also portable and will be used by midwives during home visits.

Earlier this year, West Gippsland Hospital were denied funding in the state budget. Government funding would allow construction of a new state-of-the-art facility in the region. In speaking with Hit FM this morning, Ms Kinrade remains optimistic about an upgrade sometime in the future: "We are ever hopeful that it will come around to our turn and we will get a new hospital, and we are ready to do that, but at the moment we still have to meet the demands of our community." 

To meet current demands, construction of a Short Stay Unit and new operating theatre are underway for the existing hospital building. 

Join the community campaign for a new West Gippsland Hospital by following their Facebook page. 

Hit FM's Give Me 5 for Kids campaign will return in 2019, raising more money for both West Gippsland and Latrobe Regional Hospitals.

Hear the full chat with West Gippsland Hospital's Kathy Kinrade below.