John Opie House 10 Year Anniversary
Fight Cancer Foundation celebrates ten years of providing vital accommodation support to the Tasmanian community.
In November, Fight Cancer Foundation’s Hobart accommodation centre, John Opie House, achieved 10 years of providing a home away from home for seriously ill Tasmanians and their carers who must travel to access life-saving medical treatment.
In 2018, John Opie House will offer more than 5,100 room nights to seriously ill patients and their carers from across Tasmania.
As the joint Patron-in-Chief of Fight Cancer Foundation, Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Kate Warner AC has congratulated John Opie House for its service to the Tasmanian community.
“I take pride in being able to be associated with John Opie House, now in its tenth year of providing affordable accommodation for seriously ill patients and their carers. The comfort and care associated with John Opie House has been and continues to be invaluable to many Tasmanians,” said Her Excellency the Governor.
John Opie House contains 14 comfortable rooms for seriously ill patients and their carers, and is only a five minute walk to the Royal Hobart Hospital.
Fight Cancer Foundation’s Managing Director, Eric Wright, is proud of the support the Foundation has been able to provide to Tasmanians for the past 10 years.
“John Opie House not only relieves patients and their carers of some of the financial burden caused by serious illness, but through its shared facilities it also provides a strong support network for carers during uncertain times. This community support can be equally as important to patients, carers and their families,” said Mr Wright.
Jody
Jodie and her partner had to stay in Hobart, a three hour drive from her home, on and off for six months while she received treatment for stage three ovarian cancer.
“If it wasn’t for John Opie House I would have had to be in Hobart on my own, which would have been horrible. I can’t explain how grateful I am that we were able to stay there”, explains Jodie.
For patients and carers who must spend long periods of time in a town that isn’t their home, accommodation centres like John Opie House provides a sense of stability and community during an emotionally stressful time.
“I met other women who were having treatment so I didn’t feel so isolated about what was going on with me. Everyone who was having treatment were able to sound off on stuff and we were safe to do so.”
“John Opie House allowed me to have my partner with me, it allowed me to be safe, it allowed me to not worry about finances and just focus on my treatment”, said Jodie.
Rebecca
Rebecca had to travel from her home in Oatlands to Hobart with her three year old daughter who required life-saving surgery.
“It was so lucky we were able to get a room at John Opie House as my daughter ended up being rushed back to hospital a couple of times with complications,” explains Rebecca.
For patients and carers who have other family members to consider, accommodation centres like John Opie House allow families to stay together during an emotionally stressful time.
“I’ve got a boy whose autistic, so it was handy having somewhere that was nice and quiet and clean, with a lovely lounge room which he really enjoyed.”
“Being in a state where a lot of people are so far away from the major hospital, it’s really important to have an accommodation center like John Opie House for people to stay,” said Rebecca.
Jill
Jill whose son has battled illness his entire life has to travel from her home in Ulverstone to Hobart to support her son while he receives medical treatment.
“It’s just such a blessing to have a place like John Opie House there. It’s an essential service for people who have a lot of illnesses,” said Jill.
For patients and carers who undertake lengthy stays, accommodation centres like John Opie House reduce the financial burden of finding suitable accommodation.
“Some of the people I have met at John Opie House had been there for three or four months and you just can’t afford to stay anywhere else when it’s long-term.”
“It’s also the support you get at John Opie House when you haven’t got your family around, it’s important to have that support to help you get through,” said Jill.
Sue
Diagnosed with small cell lung carcinoma, Sue has to travel from her home in Oatlands to Hobart to receive treatment.
“Staying at John Opie House has reduced my travelling times which has reduced my fatigue levels and also reduced stress due to worrying about getting to treatment,” said Sue.
For patients and carers who undertake lengthy stays, accommodation centres like John Opie House reduce the financial burden of finding suitable accommodation.
“Whilst in the house there have been many discussions amongst people staying there and the uniform, consistent comment has been how lucky we are to have John Opie House.”
“It is great that people have somewhere away from home to stay whilst a family member or themselves requires medical care,” said Sue.
