COUCH round table meeting seeks $7.5m over five years in federal funding
A Cairns medical and support centre about to lose its federal funding pulled together an urgent stakeholder meeting in a bid to keep its doors open.
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Cairns’ cancer centre will push for a five-year, $7.5m funding lifeline in the looming federal election in a bid to keep its doors open.
The $1.5m-a-year ask was the key outcome from an urgent roundtable held at Cairns Organisation United for Cancer Health’s Reservoir Rd facility on Friday evening as its federal funding runs dry this month.
About 25 political, health, business and civic leaders from throughout the Far North attended the meeting hosted by COUCH chairman Dr Scott Davis.
“There was strong support from civic and business leaders in the room for our political friends from both sides to commit core funding of $1.5m every year for five years,” Dr Davis said.
The cancer centre provides clinical, evidence-based services such as exercise physiology, dietetics and oncology and remedial massage proven to enhance a patient’s outcome.
Dr Davis told the group about the centre’s plan to build a sustainable model for the future but admitted it would need core funding from the government to help address a gap until the service established viability through a service redesign and increased partnerships.
“What we’re asking for is money to help us provide services which, ultimately, we can do for less than the health system,” Dr Davis said.
“In fact, there were many in the room who believed the core funding should be provided by government – state and federal – ongoing.”
Dr Davis said while Covid had depleted the organisation’s services, it was undergoing reinvestment and was in negotiations to host a GP at the centre, as well as a social worker who would provide urgently needed mental health support specifically for people with cancer.
The centre also planned to on-board an acupuncturist and would offer tailored care packages for breast and prostate cancer designed around an individual’s specific needs.
Dr Davis said there was a sombre discussion around what would happen if COUCH was forced to close the centre’s doors if it didn’t receive the funding.
“There was a strong view that the ongoing impact of a potential closure would be a travesty and would have devastating consequences for our clients.”
Dr Davis said the funding request to help improve people’s lives was a “drop in the ocean” when compared to other election big ticket funding items.
“The centre has only been here about five years; that’s basically what you’d call a start-up. “We need help to get to the next phase.”
The Chamber of Commerce and Advance Cairns, whose chief executives Patricia O’Neill and Jacinta Reddan both attended the roundtable, continue to advocate for core funding for the cancer centre.
Some of those at the meeting included Senator Nita Green, Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch and LNP candidate for Leichhardt Jeremy Neal, state MPs Bree James, Terry James and Ritchie Bates on behalf of Michael Healy, representatives from the Cairns and Cape and Torres health services, Cairns Airport and Northern Queensland Primary Health Network CEO Ben Tooth and pharmacist Matthew Calanna.
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Originally published as COUCH round table meeting seeks $7.5m over five years in federal funding
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