Supporting families of ill and injured children who are receiving treatment in the Central West at Dubbo Base Hospital in the Paediatric Ward and Special Care Nursery, and at Orange’s Hospitals. For decades, there has been a critical shortage of accommodation for families attending Orange Hospital with a sick or injured child. The Orange Health Service, services Western NSW, and for specialist Men
tal Health Services Southern, Western and Northern NSW. The Hospital is one of the major rural referral hospitals in NSW and as its role in health care has grown, so too has the need for accommodation. Many families further afield may choose to come to Orange Hospital for medical services Ronald McDonald House Orange will provide accommodation for the families of seriously ill children who access the Orange Hospital. One of the services provided at Orange is a rural regional tertiary referral service for children and young people aged 0-16 yrs. During the planning phase for the Orange Health Service paediatric unit in particular, and the Women and Infants service (maternity), the planning team anticipated the need for Ronald McDonald House beds to accommodate families of paediatrics, neonate patients for long term care. A review of the health services data relating to boarder patients indicates that there has been a significant increase in the number of boarders in maternity and paediatrics from 2012 to 2013. In maternity, mothers of sick new borns who are not from Orange and surrounding communities are required to stay in the health service occupying a maternity bed, in order to care for their neonate hospitalised in the special care nursery. It is anticipated that both the paediatric and maternity service will continue to see an increase in service demand. Child and Adolescent Mental Health is part of the new Orange Health Service with a catchment of 86% of NSW, with people travelling extensive distances. During the 2013-2014 period of the admissions to Orange Health Service at least 45% of families required accommodation, and 38% of admissions are from outside Orange and Bathurst, for example Bourke, Albury, Coonamble, Batemans Bay, Lithgow, Wagga Wagga. The approximate length of stay for the families is 3 weeks and a proportion up to 3 months. Ronald McDonald House Orange opened for families in April 2015, with the first family staying on April 24th 2015. Ronald McDonald House in Orange supports families of seriously ill or injured children receiving treatment at the Orange Health Service. The Ronald McDonald House Orange site is a beautiful site, adjacent to the hospital, which is surrounded by playing fields, golf course and a swimming pool and has a canopy of established trees that attract many native species of birds and animals. The House has been designed around the trees. We have 8 family units, with each unit accommodating a family of 6, each with their own en-suite bathrooms. Two of these units are self contained. The House infrastructure provides for an expansion to 20 family units. We have communal and private living areas, dining and kitchen areas, an adolescent retreat and area for young children including a Children’s library and administrative space for the Learning Program, Care Mobile, Executive Officer and administrative staff to run the House.. The Ronald McDonald House Learning Program, which provides support and tutoring for children returning to school after a long illness. It now has over 50 Central and Western NSW students. This program operates from RMH Orange at no cost to the families. This project is totally a community project and has given a great sense of ownership to everyone who has contributed to this point. Ronald McDonald House Orange has received enormous regional and local support including hundreds of fundraisers, large and small, corporate donations, support from McDonald’s franchisees, personal donations, service club donations and in kind support from the building industry and local excavation contractors. Over $2 million was raised by the community. Our continued fundraising is our highest priority. No one is ever prepared for the devastating news that their child is seriously ill. It is an emotionally draining time for the entire family. The family’s life is turned upside down and one question becomes imminent: where can we stay to be close to our child? Ronald McDonald House Orange is a ‘Home Away from Home’ for many families of a child with a serious illness. We understand, there is no place like home, however, Ronald McDonald House, Orange provides a safe and comfortable environment where the whole family can stay together for the duration of their child’s treatment. With your support our House will continue to be a place where families can be together and have a ‘soft place to land’ when they need it most, offering the comforts of home during one of the most traumatic times in their lives. The benefits to families who utilise our facilities are that they do not have to repeatedly travel long distances, sleep in waiting rooms, in chairs on wards, in their car or pay for expensive hotel rooms. It costs us $138 a room every night to ‘keep the doors open’ at Ronald McDonald House Orange. Your generosity plays a vital role in helping us to keep our doors open and make a real difference in the lives of families.
