Mackay’s Fergus Builders win tender for Ronald McDonald family room

After years spent fundraising, the tender to build a Ronald McDonald family room at Mackay Base Hospital has been awarded and a dream is soon to be realised.

Glenella business Fergus Builders has won the tender to build the Ronald McDonald Mackay Family Room.

The Mackay Ronald McDonald Family Room will be the second family room built in North Australia, following the Townsville Family Room, which opened in December 2017.

Ronald McDonald House Charities North Australia chief executive officer Tamara South said she was honoured to receive such overwhelming support from the local Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday communities ahead of the project.

“The generous support of the local community, along with our partners at Mackay Hospital and Health Service and the Mackay Hospital Foundation, has been instrumental in turning our plans to construct the Mackay Ronald McDonald Family Room from a dream into becoming a reality,” Ms South said.

“With countless community members from Mackay and surrounds having fundraised, donated, or volunteered their time for the capital campaign, we are thrilled to now be seeing the tangible results of their hard work.”

Daily Mercury readers, through supporting the return of the weekly print edition, helped contribute $5000 towards the family room.

The Daily Mercury front page supporting Ronald McDonald House Charities.

RMHC North Australia programs make a significant difference to the lives of local Mackay regional families.

In 2020, 469 families from the Mackay, Isaac and Whitsunday region were supported through one or more of the charity’s programs.

In the same year, 281 Mackay regional families used the family room at Townsville University Hospital.

Elijah Abramovic and Ashleigh Adamson are backing the campaign to build a Ronald McDonald Family Room at Mackay Base Hospital. Picture: Contributed

Elijah Abramovic had a difficult start to life. Born at 32 weeks and three days gestation, the little boy spent two weeks in the special care unit and required surgery for birth-related complications.

Now an energetic two-year-old, Elijah’s mum Ashleigh Adamson and dad Joshua Abramovic will never forget the day they packed up their lives in Mackay to be close to specialist care in Townsville.

She was thrilled to hear a Ronald McDonald Family Room was being established at Mackay Base Hospital, having grown an appreciation for the family room during the long and stressful days in the Townsville University Hospital.

MHHS chief executive Lisa Davies Jones said the Ronald McDonald Family Room would be a welcome addition to Mackay Base Hospital’s Child and Adolescent Unit and Special Care Nursery for families of children undergoing medical treatment.

“Hospital stays can be a daunting and exhausting experience for our youngest patients and their families.

“The family room will offer a relaxing area to both local and out of town families who wish to take a meal break, utilise showers to freshen up or simply a space to relax away from hospital wards,” Ms Davies Jones said.

“We currently have more than 15 families who travel long distances each month for their children to attend appointments and undergo treatment at Mackay Base Hospital.

“These families in particular can feel quite displaced so we want the family room to provide a sense of calm and normalcy while they’re away from home.”

Mackay Hospital Foundation CEO T’aire Olsen said the family room would make a real difference to local families.

“A Family Room located at the Mackay Base Hospital will ensure a comfortable homelike environment for families from across our region, during what is often a stressful and exhausting time,” she said.

More than $776,000 has been raised so far for the family room against a goal of $1,050,000.

Individuals and community organisations that would like to contribute to the final stage of the Ronald McDonald Family Room Capital Campaign fundraising efforts can head to the RMHC North Australia website and donate online anytime.