Hills Medical Equipment Hire
The Hills Medical Equipment Pool , tucked away on the Balcombe Heights Estate at Baulkham Hills in Building 18, is a great place to hire medical equipment such as wheelchairs when needed.
A client who visited recently was delighted to find just what he needed and to realise how historical the whole estate is.
He couldn’t believe he’d lived at Kellyville for years and didn’t know the facility existed. He just wanted to go out and explore the area, after he took the wheelchair home to his wife, of course.
John Goulding says the Hills Community Medical Equipment Pool (HCMEP) Inc. was formed by the Red Cross in 1981 with Castle Hill Area Health Centre as advisory body, and APEX ,which provided the initial funding.
Baulkham Hills Council provided Building 14 which was destroyed after a fire in 1996 so Council moved it to the A wing of Building 18. HCMEP was made a tax deductable Charity in 1981and later converted to a not-for- profit as an incorporated entity.
The concept was to provide short term loan (6 to 8 weeks) of Medical Equipment such as wheelchairs, crutches etc. to members of the general public. Red Cross withdrew support in 1983 due to constitution constraints and APEX withdrew in 1987 due to lack of members.
John, Rhonda and Bruce (pictured) have held all various Committee positions such as President, Controller and Treasurer since 1982 till the present day. Rhonda as a fully qualified Occupational Therapist has been able to advise on equipment purchases over the years.
Starting with 4-5 volunteers and 45 items for loan and operating with hand written records, we have grown to 39 volunteers and 798 items of medical equipment, available using three computer terminals and an “in-house” developed database for day to day operations.
With repairs needing to be done on the ceiling and COVID lockdowns there was a long period of not trading. However, we have returned with increased enthusiasm, more volunteers and an updated, clean and fresh office. We’re grateful to the Hills Council for replacing the rotting floor and putting in new carpet.
We remain a fully self-sufficient organisation with no external funding. All purchases and running costs are met by the funds generated by lending equipment at the same costs to the public that were set in 1981; along with the generous time donated by our friendly volunteers who staff the office.
All the volunteers would particularly like to thank John, Rhonda and Bruce (pictured) for the amazing effort they have made over 41 years to the success of the pool.
For more information and a full list of prices visit the website at www.hcmep.org.au. It operates with restricted hours Mon – Sat from 9-30am to 10-30am Mon, Wed, Fri at 5-00pm to 6-00pm. Building 18 Balcombe Heights Estate, 92, Seven Hills Rd, Baulkham Hills.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][us_image image=”70740″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
