By Tanya Faulkner
A local Hills resident is determined to spread the love around the community, following another contribution to a local cause.
President of the Upper Ferntree Gully market Ian Rice is on a mission to spread funds collected by the market across local community groups, in a bid to support the wider Knox municipality.
The market recently made a donation of $5000 to the Angliss Hospital in Upper Ferntree Gully, to support their on site emergency department.
This is part of several donations that have been made to the community by Mr Rice on behalf of the market.
“Whatever money has been raised by the market, after costs, will go back to local community groups.
“We recently made a donation to the Upper Ferntree Gully CFA, and to the Upper Ferntree Gully junior football team from our recent Grand Final footy themed market,” he said.
Mr Rice said the market has been running for “many a cold, hot and wet day” over the last few years, having been a staple for the community for almost half a century.
Angliss Hospital director of emergency services Dr Marty Koolstra said the donation will go a long way for the hospital.
“This donation is going towards a patient monitor that helps us manage and monitor patients’ vital signs including their heart rate and oxygen saturation levels,” he said.
Currently, the hospital holds 23 acute cubicles in their emergency department, however not all of them have monitors available.
Dr Koolstra said the extra monitor means they will be able to react to their patients’ situations and monitor them closer in the ward.
“The data from the monitor in the cubicle gets fed back to a monitor in a nursing station, so doctors and nurses can keep an eye on what’s happening with the patients, even when they’re not in the cubicle next to them.
“Another great feature of the monitor is that it records patient data and saves it, so if they have a drop in blood pressure or their heart rate becomes irregular, indicating a loss of consciousness, we can pick up on the problems much quicker and find out why things happen.
“This leads to increased patient safety with us, and we can react to deterioration in patients much quicker than we can without it,” he said.
The team at Angliss Hospital pride themselves on being a service that supports the local community, and Dr Koolstra said they already have strong connections with the Upper Ferntree Gully Market.
“The market staff are often locals to Upper Ferntree Gully, and some have already been patients at the hospital, so we have that connection.
“We pride ourselves in serving the local community, not only with the market putting back into the hospital, but also vice versa with the hospital servicing the local community – it’s a great feeling,” he said.
The Upper Ferntree Gully Market is held on Saturday and Sunday at the Upper Ferntree Gully Station car park from 9am to 3pm weekly.
