29 January 2024

Patient transfers for Dimboola Care Community’s care team have been made easier after the family of a resident donated a new lifter to the Grampians Health campus.

Resident Victoria Baker lived the majority of her life in Melbourne, with her daughter Glenda moving in with her mum for about 15 years before she retired. Victoria’ s son John Baker said despite the family being city dwellers, Glenda had always wanted to live in the country.

“So, Glenda moved to Dimboola after retiring, buying the house next door to our sister Jill and by this time Mum had already transitioned into aged care in Melbourne,” Mr Baker said.

“When Glenda moved to the Wimmera, the family decided to move Mum up as well. We’d heard plenty of good things about the Dimboola facility and Jill had some good experiences with it as well so that’s where she went,"

“But the girls still wanted to be able to take Mum home and on outings because she liked watching her grandchildren playing sports. It was really a matter of setting Mum up to give her a life outside the home as well,"

“That was the goal, so early last year we bought a wheelchair-accessible car and the lifter.”

Mr Baker said the Dimboola team were very helpful through that process.

“They helped us select the most appropriate lifter and they even provided training to my sisters so they could operate it at home,” he said.

“Sadly, not long after that process Glenda, who had been in remission from cancer, started having back troubles and the cancer returned. She died in October last year and as a result, the lifter never got used,"

“After that we decided to donate the lifter to the Dimboola team. After all, we’ve been extremely happy with the facility and staff so it’s just nice to be able to give back and show our appreciation.”

Dimboola Care Community manager Breanna Eldridge said she was very thankful to the family for their generosity.

“It’s an unusual circumstance because families often make donations to the facility after the resident has left us,” Ms Eldridge said.

“In this case, Victoria’s carers will be using it to move her around safely and comfortably,"

“We have a lot of high care residents so it will come in handy for a lot of others as well and it’s a great back-up for the other lifter that Wimmera Health Care Group Foundation donated a couple of years ago.”

Pictured: Nurses Sarah Gavan and Anne Launer position the new lifter for resident Victoria Baker.