February 2010 Donations

• 23-Feb-10

Otago Community Trust announces February donations

The Otago Community Trust has given the Otago Clinical Skills Laboratory $50,000 towards a major refurbishment of its training facility at DunedinHospital.  The laboratory trains health workers and medical students in core competencies and professional skills.

A total of $275,800 was distributed by the Otago Community Trust in February to 27 organisations throughout Otago, said CEO, Mr Keith Ellwood. The donations again included supporting Short Film Otago with $40,000. This will be used for work in developing local interest in writing for short films, and to produce the best two or three short films. A total of $30,000 has also been granted to the South Otago Historical Society in Balclutha for records archiving, and $25,000 to upgrade Terrace School’s playground in Alexandra.

The Trust has contributed a further $30,000 towards the completion of the Elsie Evans, a small harbour ferry which is planned to operate in the Otago Harbour once completed.  This brings its total support for this project to $85,000.

Otago Clinical Skills Laboratory

The Otago Clinical Skills Laboratory provides an effective and safe learning environment for health professionals to develop, refine and maintain clinical skills competence.

Established in 2001 as a shared clinical teaching resource for the Dunedin School of Medicine (DSM) and Otago DHB, large groups of Medical students and Otago Nursing, Midwifery and Medical staff have received clinical tuition in the Fraser Building lab over that time. However there has been limited equipment maintenance and no upgrades since it started, while the changing Medical School curriculum has also increased demands.  This has meant the need for a major overhaul of facilities and of equipment, including an upgrade of examination and waiting rooms to allow volunteer patients from the community to assist medical students in private, comfortable and resourced facilities.  Included in the upgrade is a simulated hospital room and new tutorial space; assessing people in a simulated patient clinic such as this provides a much better training opportunity for both students and health professionals. The Otago Community Trust grant of $50,000 for the laboratory complements a  significant investment from the University of Otago.

Other Donations