October 16th, 2022Bank funds hospital

COMMUNITY Bank Daylesford District has conditionally committed $750,000 over 10 years to the Daylesford Hospital upgrade.
The commitment is conditional on the Victorian State Government funding the upgrade (currently estimated at $75 million) contained in the Daylesford Health Precinct Masterplan.
The Daylesford Health Precinct Masterplan was released in May by Central Highlands Rural Health’s board of directors, following community consultation.
The masterplan was funded by community contributions of $100,000, the cornerstone of which was a $25,000 contribution from Community Bank Daylesford District.
The masterplan includes upgraded and expanded aged care, new wards, increased space for dialysis, shared rooms replaced with single rooms, improved disability access and new community health facilities, all within the existing Daylesford Hospital site.
Bank chair Mark Rak said the local community needed access to better local health services.
“The Daylesford Hospital, which opened 160 years ago, was built with community support, which it continues to enjoy to this day. It’s the right time now to begin the upgrade of the hospital to reflect community needs and expectations into the future, with local facilities better suited to modern health care.
“We are delighted to announce our support for the upgrade of the Daylesford Hospital. Our 10-year commitment of $75,000 to $100,000 per year is consistent with the staged modular upgrades in the masterplan, which are likely to take 6 to 10 years to build.”
The Community Bank Daylesford District celebrated its 10th anniversary in April this year. Since it started operating in 2012 the bank has returned more than $1 million to the community through community investment and shareholder dividends.
Mr Rak said its strong balance sheet and positive financial outlook boded well for continuing significant community investments into the future