{"id":729080,"date":"2026-06-11T06:34:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T06:34:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/729080\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T06:34:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T06:34:21","slug":"queensland-hospices-end-of-life-service-kept-alive-after-generous-donations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/729080\/","title":{"rendered":"Queensland hospice’s end-of-life service kept alive after ‘generous’ donations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last-minute donations have helped keep the doors of a palliative care facility open in regional Queensland after fierce community outcry.<\/p>\n

The Fraser Coast Hospice, a free end-of-life care facility, announced last month it would enter voluntary administration on June 10.<\/p>\n

Board chairperson Ross Zelow said on Wednesday the decision was reversed after the facility received “generous” donations totalling $360,000 from two corporations in Hervey Bay.<\/p>\n

The Hervey Bay Community Bank Branch of Bendigo Bank last week made a $240,000 commitment over two years and a second private donation of $120,000 was announced by the board on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ross Zelow says donations saved the hospice from entering voluntary administration. (Supplied: Fraser Coast Hospice)<\/p>\n

“I don’t think I can express how valuable it has been, receiving massive overwhelming support from the community,” Mr Zelow said.<\/p>\n

But he warned the hospice was “not out of the woods yet”.<\/p>\n

“We will\u2026 [have] open arms to people or businesses who want to come on board so we can look at creative ways to obtain a viable future for the facility,” Mr Zelow said.<\/p>\n

The six-bed residential hospice, located about 300 kilometres north of Brisbane, is the only facility of its kind in the region providing free end-of-life care for residents but it needs $60,000 per month, or $720,000 annually to cover operational costs.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Fraser Coast Hospice has narrowly avoided voluntary administration. (ABC Wide Bay: Olivia Nunes-Malek)<\/p>\n

‘Fantastic news’<\/p>\n

Hervey Bay resident Mikaela Dreger was concerned about the hospice’s potential closure after her mother, Christine, died of breast cancer in January last year.<\/p>\n

She said the centre’s homely environment and caring staff made a stressful experience “a little bit more relaxing”.<\/p>\n

“We could just kind of be present with her \u2026 we could have more time being her daughters, rather than her carers, in that time of life.”<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Mikaela Dreger (right) says the service allowed her to spend more time with her mum. (Supplied: Jessica Gunn Photography)<\/p>\n

Ms Dreger said she was excited to learn the “necessary service” would survive.<\/p>\n

“We are all going to die some day and I think, in that vulnerable time of your life, it’s a service that is really important for family members to have access to,” she said.<\/p>\n

Hamish Thompson from Tasmania said the announcement was “fantastic news” for the Fraser Coast community.<\/p>\n

“What’s really clear is how passionate people feel about it \u2026 it’s a demonstration of how important the hospice is,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Thompson’s late mother, Lorna, was referred to the facility earlier this year after she received a terminal lung cancer diagnosis.<\/p>\n

While the numerous pledges to save the facility were “super great”, Mr Thompson said more needed to be done.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Hamish Thompson (right) hopes more prospective donors step in to ensure the hospice’s long-term survival.<\/p>\n

“The key thing now is about politicians or high-net-worth individuals coming to the aid of the hospice,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Hopefully, it’s a marriage of the two that will keep sustainable funding coming for years to come.”<\/p>\n

Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour said the council would meet with the hospice board to discuss ways to secure vital funding.<\/p>\n

“We have seen this outpouring of support for the hospice, which is really, really good,” Cr Seymour said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

George Seymour will meet with the board about funding endeavours. (ABC Wide Bay: Olivia Nunes-Malek)<\/p>\n

“[But] they’ve got a big job to do and the council will be supporting them in any way we can.”<\/p>\n

According to Mr Zelow, about 20 employees will be able to retain their positions.<\/p>\n

The board is working to secure additional funding from prospective donors in the corporate and philanthropic sectors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last-minute donations have helped keep the doors of a palliative care facility open in regional Queensland after fierce…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729081,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,44023,207684,133069,21331],"class_list":["post-729080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-donations","tag-fraser-coast","tag-hospice","tag-wide-bay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}