Plant shutdown leads to $26k hospital donation at Timboon

The cash was presented to the hospital chief executive officer Gerry Sheehan by Lochard Energy and the plant contractors, who donated the money.

Lochard Energy operations manager Josh McKenzie said contractors and the company worked hard to ensure safety on its site. 

“Each of the contractors donated a portion of money every safe day during a shutdown,” he said.

“We didn’t injure anyone or have any major incidents on all those days. It also meant all the personnel on the plant on those days knew why it was important to be safe, not just for themselves, but as there was going to be money donated to a good cause. It was a good result for the shutdown and for everyone on-site.”

Mr Sheehan said the donation was a “hefty amount”.

“We are very privileged to receive this donation from the plant and contractors,” he said.

“It’s something which small health facilities require more and more. They have all put their time together over the two-week shutdown and it’s an extraordinary effort. We are incredibly indebted to them for their support.”

He said the donation would come close to doubling the healthcare facility’s usual yearly donations. 

“It will certainly get close to that,” he said.

“We don’t receive big amounts in terms of our donations. We rely on people in the community donating whatever they can into assistance support, but big ticket items in health services take a fair bit of money. They are costly items.

“So this level of donation from Lochard Energy and all of the contractors has been nothing short of sensational to us.”

He said the money had been ear-marked for a special project.

“We have been replacing our residential and acute aged-care beds over the past year or so,” he said.

“They are pretty expensive options, but we will use some of these funds to get to that. We will also buy another bit of technology that enables us to access veins and the like for people who need some rapid infusions and IV access. I think it’s fantastic and it’s a credit to the guys.”

He said overall the hospital was “going a treat”.