TORGAS Contributes to Townsville's Palliative Care Hospital

The generous input of TORGAS in the construction of Townsville's almost completed Cancer Council Queensland Palliative Care Centre has been hailed as fantastic by the council's hospice appeal chair Peter Parr.

TORGAS board member and MineLec managing director, Tom Birt estimated that between the donation of electrical apprenticeship wages and in-kind contributions of electrical plant and equipment, savings to Cancer Council Queensland on the building would have been between $350,000 - $400,000.

"The overwhelming support we've had from individuals and organisations such as TORGAS has meant we will be able, for the first time, to provide a state-of-the-art facility for terminally ill patients in north Queensland," Mr Parr said.

"Without such support, that just wouldn't have been possible.

"The palliative care staff at Townsville Hospital do an absolutely wonderful job but at the moment, terminally ill patients are often located in shared wards - a situation Cancer Council Queensland finds unsuitable for both the patients and the staff."

"So we are more than pleased to be able to provide a dedicated facility where these people can spend their last days in a home-like environment and in comfort."

Tom Birt, the brainchild behind TORGAS'S involvement in the scheme, said he saw the opportunity to make a generous community contribution to a critical need about two years ago.

"So I suggested to the board we become involved," he said.

"They agreed and didn't hesitate to provide five electrical trade apprentices and cover their wages for as long as it took to build what will be the largest palliative care facility in Queensland.

"They've been working on the centre, which will be completed by the end of July, for the past 10 months and in the process, have felt privileged to be working on something so important and, in the process, gain some excellent trade experience."

While there was no expectation of any public recognition of TORGAS'S contribution to the centre, those who've been involved are delighted that one of the rooms will be named after the organisation.

"We certainly didn't do what we did for that reason but it is quite an honour for the Cancer Council to acknowledge our contribution to this urgently needed facility," Mr Birt said.