Kyabram Hospital Auxiliary has disbanded after 90 years of service.
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A proud chapter in Kyabram’s healthcare history has drawn to a close, with the Kyabram Hospital Auxiliary disbanding after more than nine decades of volunteer service to the hospital and wider community.
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Founded alongside the town’s first community hospital, the Kyabram Ladies Auxiliary members spent 93 years raising funds, volunteering countless hours and leaving a lasting mark on healthcare and patient comfort across Kyabram and the surrounding districts.
“Since 1933, our members have worked tirelessly to support the hospital and improve care for patients and families,” Kyabram District Health Service chief executive Anne McEvoy said.
The group’s legacy was celebrated at a recent farewell afternoon high tea, where members reflected on the organisation’s long history and service.
“It has been a privilege to be part of the auxiliary, and many of our members have given years of dedicated service with great pride,” member Mary Kendall said.
The auxiliary was formed to help establish the eight-bed cottage hospital on Allan St in Kyabram, the town’s first non-private hospital.
Auxiliary members were instrumental in keeping the hospital running, by sewing, washing linen, supplying beds and crockery, baking, and raising funds for the hospital’s patient buzzer system.
Between 1935 and 1936, the auxiliary partnered with district groups to fund a major expansion, which opened on January 22, 1936, delivering a new operating theatre, labour ward, sterilising room and laundry.
When the hospital faced staffing shortages and illness in 1945, 17 women revitalised the auxiliary, and following this, they established rosters to serve meals, bathe babies, and assist with inpatient care, along with sewing clothing and providing pillows and blankets.
As the hospital grew, so did the auxiliary’s contributions.
Following the opening of the Kyabram and District Memorial Community Hospital in 1960, the group held a garden party that would ultimately become a beloved annual hospital event.
In the following decades, the auxiliary made significant financial contributions to hospital development and equipment, including $12,000 towards furnishings for the A.G. Hutchinson Wing, $11,000 for air conditioning, $18,000 for geriatric extensions, $12,500 for the Day Hospital, $60,400 for the Tehan Wing, and $32,302 for a new operating table.
By 1993, records estimated that the auxiliary had contributed about $212,000 over the previous 28 years alone.
Recently, the auxiliary has continued to support the hospital with improvements through the purchase of a new clinical insufflator and modern furnishings designed to bring comfort to patients and their families.
Kyabram Hospital Auxiliary’s recent donation to Kyabram District Health Service supported the purchase of a new clinical insufflator.
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JORDAN TOWNROW
Through the decades of street stalls of street stalls, fetes, op shop operations and kiosk shifts, the auxiliary’s impact has been felt by countless people.
“We are deeply grateful for the wonderful support we have always received from the people of Kyabram and the wider district,” Ms Kendall said.
“While it is difficult to see the auxiliary come to an end, we are incredibly proud of what has been achieved and grateful to everyone who has contributed over the decades,” Ms McEvoy said.
