Help Build Foundation House
To help fund this project we are asking people to purchase a virtual brick for $100. Each virtual brick sold will help with the construction of this much needed facility. Our target is 10,000 bricks.
Once you purchase a brick you will receive a notification of your purchase and every person who purchases a brick will be acknowledged on a virtual wall on the building when it is completed.
Cancer Research
Research is such a fundamental part of a health care service, but it has not been something MBPH has had the capacity to undertake for a variety of reasons.
With the move back to public management in 2020 and establishment of the Foundation we are now in a position to start our first research project which will be focused on cancer in this region.
The outlook for people with many cancers is changing dramatically. The reason is that cancer treatments are changing. Newer smarter medications that can target the precise engine room of a particular cancer are being developed by cancer researchers, and gradually being trialled in patients within the structure of a clinical trial. For patients with these cancers, this can be life-saving. Accessing new and potentially life-saving medications, all as part of a global cancer research process, the clinical trial.
However, the people, the skills, the medical oversight needed for safely running clinical trials of this nature is such that facilities are, until recently, only in metropolitan areas – a devastating blow for patients and their families who live outside of large cities. Over the last few years, a number of key partnerships working with regional facilities have brought cancer clinical trials to the bush. Through the hard work of MBPGH staff, the Border Oncology Medical Research team in Albury-Wodonga, the Victorian Cancer Agency, the Alfred Hospital Trials Hub, all supported with both Federal and State Government funding, local patients in the Mildura catchment area will soon be able to access these critical treatments at the Mildura Cancer Clinical Trials Unit.
More work is needed to make this a reality. Whilst we have been successful in capturing the required expertise, both local and linked to other clinical trials units in Victoria, we still need funds to create our new home. A physical space that will be furnished with all of the necessary equipment that is part of the complex requirements of a clinical trial facility. The future is promising with the expansion of capability and capacity of how we deliver healthcare in Mildura. And most importantly, by creating a facility that allows local patients access to new treatments, we can start to make a real difference to patient outcomes.
THE NEED
To successfully start the cancer research program, we need to raise $500,000