Your kindness is supporting hundredsof cancer patientsWith your help, we have been able to fund three more dedicated Nurse Navigators for patients with cancer.

The San’s first Prostate Cancer and Colorectal Cancer Nurse Navigators have joined our existing Breast Cancer Nurse Navigators to help patients and their families along their treatment pathway. By providing information, access to resources, appointment management and general support, the navigators will ease the way and help make the process more comfortable and less stressful.

In memoriumOur heartfelt thanks to the family and friends who’ve donated to San Foundation in memory of the following people:

Brian Nagel, Colin Stubbs, David Hadden, Irene Boutsikakis, Jean Becroft, Jennifer Cole, Katherine Yap, Kerrie Cotton, Margaret Simpson, Martin King, Patricia Lever, Peter Mahony, Sue Seldon

Your kind gifts leave a legacy in their names which will live on in the good work of the hospital.

Todd, Prostate Cancer Nurse Navigator

Our Prostate Navigator Todd said,

“Your support has helped patients with cancer immensely. Without these Nurse Navigator positions, the patients can feel lost. Knowing they have someone there beside them to walk through their journey is a huge comfort - everyone faces a different experience and it’s scary at times. I can’t begin to express just how grateful I am for your support. Thank you very much.”

Thank you for your care and generosity. Your donation allows projects such as this to make a genuine difference for San patients. Our cancer patients feel your collective generous spirit helping them through very difficult times in their lives.

Jess and Christine, Colorectal Nurse Navigators

news from San Foundation

Thank you for your newest gift… peace of mind

With thanks to your generosity, the San now has THOR - a new sterilising system that uses UVC light to penetrate all the tiny nooks and crannies of a room and eradicate 99.9% of bacteria and viruses like COVID-19.

THOR looks a bit like the R2D2 robot from Star Wars, and is completely mobile and simple to operate. He can easily wheel between operating theatres and infectious ward rooms, and in about 30 minutes he can deeply sterilise the minuscule places human cleaning can’t reach. Added to our existing cleaning processes, THOR provides tremendous peace of mind to our staff, our doctors and our patients.

proudly supporting

ImpactSpring 2020

Sterile Processing manager Roel Castillo and orthopaedic surgeon Dr Rod Brooks with the new THOR device

The San is the first hospital in Sydney to have THOR, and he’s already being put to excellent use. Our orthopaedic surgeons are happy to have him on board as an extra safeguard to our usual cleaning regime as bone or joint infections can be particularly debilitating and hard to eradicate. Head of Orthopaedic surgery Dr Rod Brooks was a key advocate for the new system and expressed his deep gratitude for our supporters’ help in bringing this vision to life, particularly in the current pandemic environment when THOR could be truly life saving.

@ AdventistHC_AUS Adventist HealthCare Limited (AUS)

For the latest in news from the SanSAN FOUNDATION 185 Fox Valley Road, Wahroonga NSW 2076(02) 9480 9405 foundation@sah.org.au www.sanfoundation.org.au ABN 53 320 740 321

A true gift of the heartIn April this year, we celebrated the re-opening of the newly refurbished Cardiothoracic Theatre, thanks to the vision and overwhelming support of the Charles Warman Foundation.

With a small (socially distanced) group in the new theatre, and the family and San Foundation Board members attending via Zoom, this truly state-of-the-art theatre was opened for San surgeons to continue to deliver remarkable surgical cardiovascular work.

The San is so grateful to the King family who manage the Charles Warman Foundation and have provided tremendous support to us over many years now – funding The Warman Auditoria in the Clinical Education Centre, the Warman Wards in San Rehabilitation, the San Palliative Care in the Home service and now the new cardiovascular Theatre, which will be named the Charles Warman Foundation Cardiovascular Theatre.

The new theatre is armed with advanced 4K overhead cameras which share clear and amplified imagery and patient data via multiple large screens. This means the whole team can see what’s happening inside the chest

or even the heart and can immediately help by adapting equipment, medication, preparing instruments and anticipating the surgeon’s needs.

During the opening teleconference, surgeon Dr Emily Granger said “this theatre makes our day-to-day surgery safer and more efficient and also allows for more innovative and ground-breaking robotic assisted surgery because it has the space, the cutting edge technology and the communications systems we need. They’ve really provided a theatre for the future”.

Chris King, the grandson of Charles Warman, representing the Charles Warman Foundation, officially declared the theatre open by switching on the bright new surgical lights.

We are so excited to have this new operating theatre in use and know it will enable our renowned surgeons to continue to deliver the best possible patient care well into the future.

The official opening event of the new Charles Warman Foundation Cardiothoracic Theatre

You can find us now on Facebook @thesanfoundation

You can follow us now on instagram @sanfoundation

We are so disappointed that our usual events will have to be re-imagined this year, including our annual memorial service and our annual donor luncheon. We will stay in touch with you about alternative arrangements, but for now please know that we will greatly miss the opportunities to catch up with you all in person and we look forward to gatherings in person in the future.

Events this year

It feels strange to start yet another communication to you with “what unusual times we are in” but here we are again. I have been really heartened to hear from so many of you that you are coping as well as can be with our ‘new normal’.

It’s times like these when peoples’ true colours shine through. We are blessed to be surrounded by so many genuinely caring, beautiful people who willingly, selflessly give to help others – in myriad ways.

Meet Rona. Rona is our new pandemic mascot in San Foundation. Lovingly handmade by Marisa Stephens, a donor who hand sewed and knitted a huge volume of mask extenders for our nurses. Wearing elastic masks day after day often causes irritation behind the ears and these extenders take away the pressure. The husband and wife team, Marisa and Ray, also donated a wonderful box of handmade goods for us to sell.

Likewise, Katrina and Gavin Smith from 3D 4 Fun have been producing hundreds of plastic mask extenders and have donated over 200 to the San. These gifts make a world of difference to the recipients.

Thanks also to so many of our volunteers and supporters who have helped our hospital community by sewing handmade masks. It’s quite clear that masks are here to stay for some time now. The reusable, beautifully hand sewn masks have been a reminder to all who receive them that the San truly cares about its community and our supporters are wrapping their arms around those who need to be in hospital at this time.

Added to these wonderful gestures of physical support, is the tremendous financial support you’ve all helped with over recent months.

With your help we have been able to provide vital protection equipment – scrubs, tens of thousands of masks, cleaning equipment and day-to-day needs. We are also very proud to be the first hospital in Sydney with a high tech UVC sterilising unit - THOR - which will make our patients and staff just that bit safer. Because of you, our hospital now has 20 new pulse oximeters, vital monitoring machines and new resuscitation equipment.

Like many organisations, our hospital is struggling under the costs of managing through this pandemic. We honestly couldn’t continue to provide the important care we provide without you.

I have no words for how grateful we all are.

Please continue to stay safe and well and remember to reach out to us if you are in any need.

Karen Gair Managing Director

Your kindness is helping the San through COVID-19• San nurses were grateful for a most generous donation

of luxurious skin care packs delivered by the Rotary Club of Wahroonga in celebration of International Nurses Day. The front-line teams who received these beautiful packs were touched by the kindness and they were delighted to be in our community’s thoughts throughout the most difficult stages of COVID-19 isolation.

• Staff from across the hospital offer their heartfelt thanks to a special San supporter and San Foundation Board member who showed her appreciation of our committed people by shouting free hot drinks from the San Café for a very stressful week of COVID-19 activity.

• Thanks to your generous support, our hospital staff received a much-needed boost of nearly 3,000 sets of new procedural scrubs. With more regular changing, and more staff needing to wear sterilised scrubs, the hospital’s existing supply was at breaking point. These new scrubs have truly helped make the work day so much easier for all our frontline workers. Our sincere thanks for your support, we couldn’t have done this without you.

• Over 1000 emergency care packs have been distributed to patients since March this year. Your donations helped provide dignity and comfort during the very stressful early pandemic times. Patients often don’t have the opportunity to bring everyday items with them in an emergency, so these packs – with items including toothbrushes, combs and deodorant – really help in the first few days of admission.

San baby, Board member, grateful patient“Our family has had an association with the San for over a century – births, deaths, volunteering and working within the community. My mum Noelene, a nurse, was trained and worked at the San for decades and continued her involvement, with my father until his passing, as volunteers at Jacaranda Lodge cancer support groups. She is still passionate and active at 91 in the San Integrated Cancer Centre of which Jacaranda Lodge is an integral part. So it’s no surprise that I have a huge respect for the unique blend of holistic care and cutting edge professionalism that the San staff and doctors practice every day for its patients and the community. Some years ago I was asked to join the San Foundation Board. With a background in Biotechnology, Research & Development and business, I wanted to support the San in continuing to be one of the best hospitals in Australia. It has been a privilege to work with my fellow Board members in raising the capital funds needed to keep a not-for-profit hospital such as the San at the forefront of medicine. Attracting the best doctors requires advanced facilities, state of the art equipment and, importantly, innovative strategies to provide the best possible patient care and outcomes. The San Integrated Cancer Centre is a great example but it also applies to other specialities at the San such as Maternity and Cardiac care. More recently the San Foundation has played an increased role in funding medical and clinical development projects. In early January this year my ever vigilant GP and best friend based in Sydney noted a slight uptick in my annual PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test. Despite it still being in normal range and without any symptoms, he organised an appointment with Professor Henry Woo, Urologist at the San to have an MRI to be sure nothing nasty was at work. In recent years the San Foundation had enabled the purchase of state of the art MRI, PET/CT scanners and da Vinci Xi Robotic surgical equipment, to make the San Integrated Cancer Centre the best equipped for detection and treatment of cancers such as prostate by the multi-disciplinary team. Further funding was provided by the hospital to train the operators at the best international centres on these pieces of equipment.

Little did I know that I would personally put each of these technologies (and doctors) to the test and that the outcome would save my life! The MRI scan showed two very small but highly aggressive tumours in my prostate that would require an urgent robotic radical prostatectomy. Some peace of mind however was afforded by a unique cutting edge PET/CT scan only available at the San that showed my cancer had not spread further in my body and had been caught very early, so my prospects were excellent for a good outcome. Professor Woo was of the view another six months without surgery would have delivered a very different prognosis. I was located in Melbourne when the biopsy results came through in late February, just as COVID-19 lockdowns were being instituted, so I had to drive to Sydney for the surgery which happened early March. To have the best equipped hospital for robotic surgery, operated by a leading Australian urologist has resulted in an outstanding cancer-free outcome for me. I was looking forward to having a day or two of the San’s legendary care and attention, but was up and gone in under 24 hours - virtually pain free and recuperating at an apartment with my wife. In less than 6 weeks I experienced the best outcomes of diagnosis and treatment possible for an outstanding result. I am heartened to know that all San patients receive the same responsive treatment and care.I am truly a grateful San patient!” David Tinworth

One gift impacts so manyJess Warner, Nursing Unit Manager of Knight Ward, was overjoyed to receive a very special delivery recently of twenty new Rad-5 Pulse Oximeters, purchased thanks to one generous supporter family in June this year.This state-of-the-art equipment has the highest sensitivity possible, even when the patient is moving, and has been on the hospital’s wish list for some time. Instead of being restricted to a bed or chair during monitoring, patients can now have constant monitoring of their oxygen saturation levels while moving around and undertaking everyday tasks. This advance in our patient care is only possible thanks to the kindness of a lovely family who have been supporters for many years. Their support will benefit every patient on Knight Ward, not only now but long into the future, and make such a difference during their stay in hospital.

David Tinworth with his wife Sue and grandkids

Ross Penman and Jess Warner with the new oximeters

Helen’s legacy for Poon Ward patients and vistorsEvery day in Poon Ward, patients and their families are more comfortable thanks to the incredible generosity and commitment of one supporter to honouring his wife, Helen’s, memory.

The five recliner chairs purchased with Ken Cooper’s donation have been very popular with patients and their families because of their comfort, design and adaptability.

Patients are able to use the chairs to visit areas such as the rooftop garden and families are able to spend more time with their loved ones by converting the chair to a bed and staying overnight.

Ken’s kindness has helped so many people and made such a difference to their comfort and time in Poon Ward over this year.

Early this year when Peter asked Karen Gair, Managing Director of the San Foundation, if there was a specific project that needed support, Karen told him how wonderful the new electric recliner chairs were for the Poon cancer ward.

Peter’s 2020 cycling challenge began! Last year Peter raised nearly $5,000 and this year he’s exceeded that amount already while approaching his cycling target of 5,000km. Thanks to Peter and his great support team, another recliner chair is on the near horizon!

Peter Blythe cycles again for San Foundation

One of the new recliners with the Poon ward team

Wife, supporter, now volunteerCheryl Miller spent quite some time at the San with her husband throughout his treatment, building relationships with the lovely staff on Poon ward. After her husband succumbed to his illness, Cheryl was so grateful for the care the team gave them both that she wanted to show her appreciation.

The Poon team was treated to a team pizza lunch – a rare occasion where many of them could come together, as well as movie vouchers and a sparkling new coffee machine. But in a long lasting gift, Cheryl also generously contributed to the purchase of an additional chemotherapy trolley which could be used in the ward.

The specialised trolley enables nurses to safely administer chemotherapy treatments in the ward rather than the Day Infusion Centre. Cheryl has now become part of our San family, joining the hospital’s thriving volunteer program.

From all the nursing staff and doctors from Poon ward, and from San Foundation, we send a heartfelt thankyou to Cheryl for the special difference she’s made for our team and for future Poon ward patients.

It feels strange to start yet another communication to you with “what unusual times we are in” but here we are again. I have been really heartened to hear from so many of you that you are coping as well as can be with our ‘new normal’.

It’s times like these when peoples’ true colours shine through. We are blessed to be surrounded by so many genuinely caring, beautiful people who willingly, selflessly give to help others – in myriad ways.

Meet Rona. Rona is our new pandemic mascot in San Foundation. Lovingly handmade by Marisa Stephens, a donor who hand sewed and knitted a huge volume of mask extenders for our nurses. Wearing elastic masks day after day often causes irritation behind the ears and these extenders take away the pressure. The husband and wife team, Marisa and Ray, also donated a wonderful box of handmade goods for us to sell.

Likewise, Katrina and Gavin Smith from 3D 4 Fun have been producing hundreds of plastic mask extenders and have donated over 200 to the San. These gifts make a world of difference to the recipients.

Thanks also to so many of our volunteers and supporters who have helped our hospital community by sewing handmade masks. It’s quite clear that masks are here to stay for some time now. The reusable, beautifully hand sewn masks have been a reminder to all who receive them that the San truly cares about its community and our supporters are wrapping their arms around those who need to be in hospital at this time.

Added to these wonderful gestures of physical support, is the tremendous financial support you’ve all helped with over recent months.

With your help we have been able to provide vital protection equipment – scrubs, tens of thousands of masks, cleaning equipment and day-to-day needs. We are also very proud to be the first hospital in Sydney with a high tech UVC sterilising unit - THOR - which will make our patients and staff just that bit safer. Because of you, our hospital now has 20 new pulse oximeters, vital monitoring machines and new resuscitation equipment.

Like many organisations, our hospital is struggling under the costs of managing through this pandemic. We honestly couldn’t continue to provide the important care we provide without you.

I have no words for how grateful we all are.

Please continue to stay safe and well and remember to reach out to us if you are in any need.

Karen Gair Managing Director

Your kindness is helping the San through COVID-19• San nurses were grateful for a most generous donation

of luxurious skin care packs delivered by the Rotary Club of Wahroonga in celebration of International Nurses Day. The front-line teams who received these beautiful packs were touched by the kindness and they were delighted to be in our community’s thoughts throughout the most difficult stages of COVID-19 isolation.

• Staff from across the hospital offer their heartfelt thanks to a special San supporter and San Foundation Board member who showed her appreciation of our committed people by shouting free hot drinks from the San Café for a very stressful week of COVID-19 activity.

• Thanks to your generous support, our hospital staff received a much-needed boost of nearly 3,000 sets of new procedural scrubs. With more regular changing, and more staff needing to wear sterilised scrubs, the hospital’s existing supply was at breaking point. These new scrubs have truly helped make the work day so much easier for all our frontline workers. Our sincere thanks for your support, we couldn’t have done this without you.

• Over 1000 emergency care packs have been distributed to patients since March this year. Your donations helped provide dignity and comfort during the very stressful early pandemic times. Patients often don’t have the opportunity to bring everyday items with them in an emergency, so these packs – with items including toothbrushes, combs and deodorant – really help in the first few days of admission.

San baby, Board member, grateful patient“Our family has had an association with the San for over a century – births, deaths, volunteering and working within the community. My mum Noelene, a nurse, was trained and worked at the San for decades and continued her involvement, with my father until his passing, as volunteers at Jacaranda Lodge cancer support groups. She is still passionate and active at 91 in the San Integrated Cancer Centre of which Jacaranda Lodge is an integral part. So it’s no surprise that I have a huge respect for the unique blend of holistic care and cutting edge professionalism that the San staff and doctors practice every day for its patients and the community. Some years ago I was asked to join the San Foundation Board. With a background in Biotechnology, Research & Development and business, I wanted to support the San in continuing to be one of the best hospitals in Australia. It has been a privilege to work with my fellow Board members in raising the capital funds needed to keep a not-for-profit hospital such as the San at the forefront of medicine. Attracting the best doctors requires advanced facilities, state of the art equipment and, importantly, innovative strategies to provide the best possible patient care and outcomes. The San Integrated Cancer Centre is a great example but it also applies to other specialities at the San such as Maternity and Cardiac care. More recently the San Foundation has played an increased role in funding medical and clinical development projects. In early January this year my ever vigilant GP and best friend based in Sydney noted a slight uptick in my annual PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test. Despite it still being in normal range and without any symptoms, he organised an appointment with Professor Henry Woo, Urologist at the San to have an MRI to be sure nothing nasty was at work. In recent years the San Foundation had enabled the purchase of state of the art MRI, PET/CT scanners and da Vinci Xi Robotic surgical equipment, to make the San Integrated Cancer Centre the best equipped for detection and treatment of cancers such as prostate by the multi-disciplinary team. Further funding was provided by the hospital to train the operators at the best international centres on these pieces of equipment.

Little did I know that I would personally put each of these technologies (and doctors) to the test and that the outcome would save my life! The MRI scan showed two very small but highly aggressive tumours in my prostate that would require an urgent robotic radical prostatectomy. Some peace of mind however was afforded by a unique cutting edge PET/CT scan only available at the San that showed my cancer had not spread further in my body and had been caught very early, so my prospects were excellent for a good outcome. Professor Woo was of the view another six months without surgery would have delivered a very different prognosis. I was located in Melbourne when the biopsy results came through in late February, just as COVID-19 lockdowns were being instituted, so I had to drive to Sydney for the surgery which happened early March. To have the best equipped hospital for robotic surgery, operated by a leading Australian urologist has resulted in an outstanding cancer-free outcome for me. I was looking forward to having a day or two of the San’s legendary care and attention, but was up and gone in under 24 hours - virtually pain free and recuperating at an apartment with my wife. In less than 6 weeks I experienced the best outcomes of diagnosis and treatment possible for an outstanding result. I am heartened to know that all San patients receive the same responsive treatment and care.I am truly a grateful San patient!” David Tinworth

One gift impacts so manyJess Warner, Nursing Unit Manager of Knight Ward, was overjoyed to receive a very special delivery recently of twenty new Rad-5 Pulse Oximeters, purchased thanks to one generous supporter family in June this year.This state-of-the-art equipment has the highest sensitivity possible, even when the patient is moving, and has been on the hospital’s wish list for some time. Instead of being restricted to a bed or chair during monitoring, patients can now have constant monitoring of their oxygen saturation levels while moving around and undertaking everyday tasks. This advance in our patient care is only possible thanks to the kindness of a lovely family who have been supporters for many years. Their support will benefit every patient on Knight Ward, not only now but long into the future, and make such a difference during their stay in hospital.

David Tinworth with his wife Sue and grandkids

Ross Penman and Jess Warner with the new oximeters

Helen’s legacy for Poon Ward patients and vistorsEvery day in Poon Ward, patients and their families are more comfortable thanks to the incredible generosity and commitment of one supporter to honouring his wife, Helen’s, memory.

The five recliner chairs purchased with Ken Cooper’s donation have been very popular with patients and their families because of their comfort, design and adaptability.

Patients are able to use the chairs to visit areas such as the rooftop garden and families are able to spend more time with their loved ones by converting the chair to a bed and staying overnight.

Ken’s kindness has helped so many people and made such a difference to their comfort and time in Poon Ward over this year.

Early this year when Peter asked Karen Gair, Managing Director of the San Foundation, if there was a specific project that needed support, Karen told him how wonderful the new electric recliner chairs were for the Poon cancer ward.

Peter’s 2020 cycling challenge began! Last year Peter raised nearly $5,000 and this year he’s exceeded that amount already while approaching his cycling target of 5,000km. Thanks to Peter and his great support team, another recliner chair is on the near horizon!

Peter Blythe cycles again for San Foundation

One of the new recliners with the Poon ward team

Wife, supporter, now volunteerCheryl Miller spent quite some time at the San with her husband throughout his treatment, building relationships with the lovely staff on Poon ward. After her husband succumbed to his illness, Cheryl was so grateful for the care the team gave them both that she wanted to show her appreciation.

The Poon team was treated to a team pizza lunch – a rare occasion where many of them could come together, as well as movie vouchers and a sparkling new coffee machine. But in a long lasting gift, Cheryl also generously contributed to the purchase of an additional chemotherapy trolley which could be used in the ward.

The specialised trolley enables nurses to safely administer chemotherapy treatments in the ward rather than the Day Infusion Centre. Cheryl has now become part of our San family, joining the hospital’s thriving volunteer program.

From all the nursing staff and doctors from Poon ward, and from San Foundation, we send a heartfelt thankyou to Cheryl for the special difference she’s made for our team and for future Poon ward patients.

It feels strange to start yet another communication to you with “what unusual times we are in” but here we are again. I have been really heartened to hear from so many of you that you are coping as well as can be with our ‘new normal’.

It’s times like these when peoples’ true colours shine through. We are blessed to be surrounded by so many genuinely caring, beautiful people who willingly, selflessly give to help others – in myriad ways.

Meet Rona. Rona is our new pandemic mascot in San Foundation. Lovingly handmade by Marisa Stephens, a donor who hand sewed and knitted a huge volume of mask extenders for our nurses. Wearing elastic masks day after day often causes irritation behind the ears and these extenders take away the pressure. The husband and wife team, Marisa and Ray, also donated a wonderful box of handmade goods for us to sell.

Likewise, Katrina and Gavin Smith from 3D 4 Fun have been producing hundreds of plastic mask extenders and have donated over 200 to the San. These gifts make a world of difference to the recipients.

Thanks also to so many of our volunteers and supporters who have helped our hospital community by sewing handmade masks. It’s quite clear that masks are here to stay for some time now. The reusable, beautifully hand sewn masks have been a reminder to all who receive them that the San truly cares about its community and our supporters are wrapping their arms around those who need to be in hospital at this time.

Added to these wonderful gestures of physical support, is the tremendous financial support you’ve all helped with over recent months.

With your help we have been able to provide vital protection equipment – scrubs, tens of thousands of masks, cleaning equipment and day-to-day needs. We are also very proud to be the first hospital in Sydney with a high tech UVC sterilising unit - THOR - which will make our patients and staff just that bit safer. Because of you, our hospital now has 20 new pulse oximeters, vital monitoring machines and new resuscitation equipment.

Like many organisations, our hospital is struggling under the costs of managing through this pandemic. We honestly couldn’t continue to provide the important care we provide without you.

I have no words for how grateful we all are.

Please continue to stay safe and well and remember to reach out to us if you are in any need.

Karen Gair Managing Director

Your kindness is helping the San through COVID-19• San nurses were grateful for a most generous donation

of luxurious skin care packs delivered by the Rotary Club of Wahroonga in celebration of International Nurses Day. The front-line teams who received these beautiful packs were touched by the kindness and they were delighted to be in our community’s thoughts throughout the most difficult stages of COVID-19 isolation.

• Staff from across the hospital offer their heartfelt thanks to a special San supporter and San Foundation Board member who showed her appreciation of our committed people by shouting free hot drinks from the San Café for a very stressful week of COVID-19 activity.

• Thanks to your generous support, our hospital staff received a much-needed boost of nearly 3,000 sets of new procedural scrubs. With more regular changing, and more staff needing to wear sterilised scrubs, the hospital’s existing supply was at breaking point. These new scrubs have truly helped make the work day so much easier for all our frontline workers. Our sincere thanks for your support, we couldn’t have done this without you.

• Over 1000 emergency care packs have been distributed to patients since March this year. Your donations helped provide dignity and comfort during the very stressful early pandemic times. Patients often don’t have the opportunity to bring everyday items with them in an emergency, so these packs – with items including toothbrushes, combs and deodorant – really help in the first few days of admission.

San baby, Board member, grateful patient“Our family has had an association with the San for over a century – births, deaths, volunteering and working within the community. My mum Noelene, a nurse, was trained and worked at the San for decades and continued her involvement, with my father until his passing, as volunteers at Jacaranda Lodge cancer support groups. She is still passionate and active at 91 in the San Integrated Cancer Centre of which Jacaranda Lodge is an integral part. So it’s no surprise that I have a huge respect for the unique blend of holistic care and cutting edge professionalism that the San staff and doctors practice every day for its patients and the community. Some years ago I was asked to join the San Foundation Board. With a background in Biotechnology, Research & Development and business, I wanted to support the San in continuing to be one of the best hospitals in Australia. It has been a privilege to work with my fellow Board members in raising the capital funds needed to keep a not-for-profit hospital such as the San at the forefront of medicine. Attracting the best doctors requires advanced facilities, state of the art equipment and, importantly, innovative strategies to provide the best possible patient care and outcomes. The San Integrated Cancer Centre is a great example but it also applies to other specialities at the San such as Maternity and Cardiac care. More recently the San Foundation has played an increased role in funding medical and clinical development projects. In early January this year my ever vigilant GP and best friend based in Sydney noted a slight uptick in my annual PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test. Despite it still being in normal range and without any symptoms, he organised an appointment with Professor Henry Woo, Urologist at the San to have an MRI to be sure nothing nasty was at work. In recent years the San Foundation had enabled the purchase of state of the art MRI, PET/CT scanners and da Vinci Xi Robotic surgical equipment, to make the San Integrated Cancer Centre the best equipped for detection and treatment of cancers such as prostate by the multi-disciplinary team. Further funding was provided by the hospital to train the operators at the best international centres on these pieces of equipment.

Little did I know that I would personally put each of these technologies (and doctors) to the test and that the outcome would save my life! The MRI scan showed two very small but highly aggressive tumours in my prostate that would require an urgent robotic radical prostatectomy. Some peace of mind however was afforded by a unique cutting edge PET/CT scan only available at the San that showed my cancer had not spread further in my body and had been caught very early, so my prospects were excellent for a good outcome. Professor Woo was of the view another six months without surgery would have delivered a very different prognosis. I was located in Melbourne when the biopsy results came through in late February, just as COVID-19 lockdowns were being instituted, so I had to drive to Sydney for the surgery which happened early March. To have the best equipped hospital for robotic surgery, operated by a leading Australian urologist has resulted in an outstanding cancer-free outcome for me. I was looking forward to having a day or two of the San’s legendary care and attention, but was up and gone in under 24 hours - virtually pain free and recuperating at an apartment with my wife. In less than 6 weeks I experienced the best outcomes of diagnosis and treatment possible for an outstanding result. I am heartened to know that all San patients receive the same responsive treatment and care.I am truly a grateful San patient!” David Tinworth

One gift impacts so manyJess Warner, Nursing Unit Manager of Knight Ward, was overjoyed to receive a very special delivery recently of twenty new Rad-5 Pulse Oximeters, purchased thanks to one generous supporter family in June this year.This state-of-the-art equipment has the highest sensitivity possible, even when the patient is moving, and has been on the hospital’s wish list for some time. Instead of being restricted to a bed or chair during monitoring, patients can now have constant monitoring of their oxygen saturation levels while moving around and undertaking everyday tasks. This advance in our patient care is only possible thanks to the kindness of a lovely family who have been supporters for many years. Their support will benefit every patient on Knight Ward, not only now but long into the future, and make such a difference during their stay in hospital.

David Tinworth with his wife Sue and grandkids

Ross Penman and Jess Warner with the new oximeters

Helen’s legacy for Poon Ward patients and vistorsEvery day in Poon Ward, patients and their families are more comfortable thanks to the incredible generosity and commitment of one supporter to honouring his wife, Helen’s, memory.

The five recliner chairs purchased with Ken Cooper’s donation have been very popular with patients and their families because of their comfort, design and adaptability.

Patients are able to use the chairs to visit areas such as the rooftop garden and families are able to spend more time with their loved ones by converting the chair to a bed and staying overnight.

Ken’s kindness has helped so many people and made such a difference to their comfort and time in Poon Ward over this year.

Early this year when Peter asked Karen Gair, Managing Director of the San Foundation, if there was a specific project that needed support, Karen told him how wonderful the new electric recliner chairs were for the Poon cancer ward.

Peter’s 2020 cycling challenge began! Last year Peter raised nearly $5,000 and this year he’s exceeded that amount already while approaching his cycling target of 5,000km. Thanks to Peter and his great support team, another recliner chair is on the near horizon!

Peter Blythe cycles again for San Foundation

One of the new recliners with the Poon ward team

Wife, supporter, now volunteerCheryl Miller spent quite some time at the San with her husband throughout his treatment, building relationships with the lovely staff on Poon ward. After her husband succumbed to his illness, Cheryl was so grateful for the care the team gave them both that she wanted to show her appreciation.

The Poon team was treated to a team pizza lunch – a rare occasion where many of them could come together, as well as movie vouchers and a sparkling new coffee machine. But in a long lasting gift, Cheryl also generously contributed to the purchase of an additional chemotherapy trolley which could be used in the ward.

The specialised trolley enables nurses to safely administer chemotherapy treatments in the ward rather than the Day Infusion Centre. Cheryl has now become part of our San family, joining the hospital’s thriving volunteer program.

From all the nursing staff and doctors from Poon ward, and from San Foundation, we send a heartfelt thankyou to Cheryl for the special difference she’s made for our team and for future Poon ward patients.

Your kindness is supporting hundreds of cancer patientsWith your help, we have been able to fund three more dedicated Nurse Navigators for patients with cancer.

The San’s first Prostate Cancer and Colorectal Cancer Nurse Navigators have joined our existing Breast Cancer Nurse Navigators to help patients and their families along their treatment pathway. By providing information, access to resources, appointment management and general support, the navigators will ease the way and help make the process more comfortable and less stressful.

In memoriumOur heartfelt thanks to the family and friends who’ve donated to San Foundation in memory of the following people:

Brian Nagel, Colin Stubbs, David Hadden, Irene Boutsikakis, Jean Becroft, Jennifer Cole, Katherine Yap, Kerrie Cotton, Margaret Simpson, Martin King, Patricia Lever, Peter Mahony, Sue Seldon

Your kind gifts leave a legacy in their names which will live on in the good work of the hospital.

Todd, Prostate Cancer Nurse Navigator

Our Prostate Navigator Todd said,

“Your support has helped patients with cancer immensely. Without these Nurse Navigator positions, the patients can feel lost. Knowing they have someone there beside them to walk through their journey is a huge comfort - everyone faces a different experience and it’s scary at times. I can’t begin to express just how grateful I am for your support. Thank you very much.”

Thank you for your care and generosity. Your donation allows projects such as this to make a genuine difference for San patients. Our cancer patients feel your collective generous spirit helping them through very difficult times in their lives.

Jess and Christine, Colorectal Nurse Navigators

news from San Foundation

Thank you for your newest gift… peace of mind

With thanks to your generosity, the San now has THOR - a new sterilising system that uses UVC light to penetrate all the tiny nooks and crannies of a room and eradicate 99.9% of bacteria and viruses like COVID-19.

THOR looks a bit like the R2D2 robot from Star Wars, and is completely mobile and simple to operate. He can easily wheel between operating theatres and infectious ward rooms, and in about 30 minutes he can deeply sterilise the minuscule places human cleaning can’t reach. Added to our existing cleaning processes, THOR provides tremendous peace of mind to our staff, our doctors and our patients.

proudly supporting

ImpactSpring 2020

Sterile Processing manager Roel Castillo and orthopaedic surgeon Dr Rod Brooks with the new THOR device

The San is the first hospital in Sydney to have THOR, and he’s already being put to excellent use. Our orthopaedic surgeons are happy to have him on board as an extra safeguard to our usual cleaning regime as bone or joint infections can be particularly debilitating and hard to eradicate. Head of Orthopaedic surgery Dr Rod Brooks was a key advocate for the new system and expressed his deep gratitude for our supporters’ help in bringing this vision to life, particularly in the current pandemic environment when THOR could be truly life saving.

@ AdventistHC_AUS Adventist HealthCare Limited (AUS)

For the latest in news from the SanSAN FOUNDATION 185 Fox Valley Road, Wahroonga NSW 2076(02) 9480 9405 foundation@sah.org.au www.sanfoundation.org.au ABN 53 320 740 321

A true gift of the heartIn April this year, we celebrated the re-opening of the newly refurbished Cardiothoracic Theatre, thanks to the vision and overwhelming support of the Charles Warman Foundation.

With a small (socially distanced) group in the new theatre, and the family and San Foundation Board members attending via Zoom, this truly state-of-the-art theatre was opened for San surgeons to continue to deliver remarkable surgical cardiovascular work.

The San is so grateful to the King family who manage the Charles Warman Foundation and have provided tremendous support to us over many years now – funding The Warman Auditoria in the Clinical Education Centre, the Warman Wards in San Rehabilitation, the San Palliative Care in the Home service and now the new cardiovascular Theatre, which will be named the Charles Warman Foundation Cardiovascular Theatre.

The new theatre is armed with advanced 4K overhead cameras which share clear and amplified imagery and patient data via multiple large screens. This means the whole team can see what’s happening inside the chest

or even the heart and can immediately help by adapting equipment, medication, preparing instruments and anticipating the surgeon’s needs.

During the opening teleconference, surgeon Dr Emily Granger said “this theatre makes our day-to-day surgery safer and more efficient and also allows for more innovative and ground-breaking robotic assisted surgery because it has the space, the cutting edge technology and the communications systems we need. They’ve really provided a theatre for the future”.

Chris King, the grandson of Charles Warman, representing the Charles Warman Foundation, officially declared the theatre open by switching on the bright new surgical lights.

We are so excited to have this new operating theatre in use and know it will enable our renowned surgeons to continue to deliver the best possible patient care well into the future.

The official opening event of the new Charles Warman Foundation Cardiothoracic Theatre

You can find us now on Facebook @thesanfoundation

You can follow us now on instagram @sanfoundation

We are so disappointed that our usual events will have to be re-imagined this year, including our annual memorial service and our annual donor luncheon. We will stay in touch with you about alternative arrangements, but for now please know that we will greatly miss the opportunities to catch up with you all in person and we look forward to gatherings in person in the future.

Events this year

Your kindness is supporting hundreds of cancer patientsWith your help, we have been able to fund three more dedicated Nurse Navigators for patients with cancer.

The San’s first Prostate Cancer and Colorectal Cancer Nurse Navigators have joined our existing Breast Cancer Nurse Navigators to help patients and their families along their treatment pathway. By providing information, access to resources, appointment management and general support, the navigators will ease the way and help make the process more comfortable and less stressful.

In memoriumOur heartfelt thanks to the family and friends who’ve donated to San Foundation in memory of the following people:

Brian Nagel, Colin Stubbs, David Hadden, Irene Boutsikakis, Jean Becroft, Jennifer Cole, Katherine Yap, Kerrie Cotton, Margaret Simpson, Martin King, Patricia Lever, Peter Mahony, Sue Seldon

Your kind gifts leave a legacy in their names which will live on in the good work of the hospital.

Todd, Prostate Cancer Nurse Navigator

Our Prostate Navigator Todd said,

“Your support has helped patients with cancer immensely. Without these Nurse Navigator positions, the patients can feel lost. Knowing they have someone there beside them to walk through their journey is a huge comfort - everyone faces a different experience and it’s scary at times. I can’t begin to express just how grateful I am for your support. Thank you very much.”

Thank you for your care and generosity. Your donation allows projects such as this to make a genuine difference for San patients. Our cancer patients feel your collective generous spirit helping them through very difficult times in their lives.

Jess and Christine, Colorectal Nurse Navigators

news from San Foundation

Thank you for your newest gift… peace of mind

With thanks to your generosity, the San now has THOR - a new sterilising system that uses UVC light to penetrate all the tiny nooks and crannies of a room and eradicate 99.9% of bacteria and viruses like COVID-19.

THOR looks a bit like the R2D2 robot from Star Wars, and is completely mobile and simple to operate. He can easily wheel between operating theatres and infectious ward rooms, and in about 30 minutes he can deeply sterilise the minuscule places human cleaning can’t reach. Added to our existing cleaning processes, THOR provides tremendous peace of mind to our staff, our doctors and our patients.

proudly supporting

ImpactSpring 2020

Sterile Processing manager Roel Castillo and orthopaedic surgeon Dr Rod Brooks with the new THOR device

The San is the first hospital in Sydney to have THOR, and he’s already being put to excellent use. Our orthopaedic surgeons are happy to have him on board as an extra safeguard to our usual cleaning regime as bone or joint infections can be particularly debilitating and hard to eradicate. Head of Orthopaedic surgery Dr Rod Brooks was a key advocate for the new system and expressed his deep gratitude for our supporters’ help in bringing this vision to life, particularly in the current pandemic environment when THOR could be truly life saving.

@ AdventistHC_AUS Adventist HealthCare Limited (AUS)

For the latest in news from the SanSAN FOUNDATION 185 Fox Valley Road, Wahroonga NSW 2076(02) 9480 9405 foundation@sah.org.au www.sanfoundation.org.au ABN 53 320 740 321

A true gift of the heartIn April this year, we celebrated the re-opening of the newly refurbished Cardiothoracic Theatre, thanks to the vision and overwhelming support of the Charles Warman Foundation.

With a small (socially distanced) group in the new theatre, and the family and San Foundation Board members attending via Zoom, this truly state-of-the-art theatre was opened for San surgeons to continue to deliver remarkable surgical cardiovascular work.

The San is so grateful to the King family who manage the Charles Warman Foundation and have provided tremendous support to us over many years now – funding The Warman Auditoria in the Clinical Education Centre, the Warman Wards in San Rehabilitation, the San Palliative Care in the Home service and now the new cardiovascular Theatre, which will be named the Charles Warman Foundation Cardiovascular Theatre.

The new theatre is armed with advanced 4K overhead cameras which share clear and amplified imagery and patient data via multiple large screens. This means the whole team can see what’s happening inside the chest

or even the heart and can immediately help by adapting equipment, medication, preparing instruments and anticipating the surgeon’s needs.

During the opening teleconference, surgeon Dr Emily Granger said “this theatre makes our day-to-day surgery safer and more efficient and also allows for more innovative and ground-breaking robotic assisted surgery because it has the space, the cutting edge technology and the communications systems we need. They’ve really provided a theatre for the future”.

Chris King, the grandson of Charles Warman, representing the Charles Warman Foundation, officially declared the theatre open by switching on the bright new surgical lights.

We are so excited to have this new operating theatre in use and know it will enable our renowned surgeons to continue to deliver the best possible patient care well into the future.

The official opening event of the new Charles Warman Foundation Cardiothoracic Theatre

You can find us now on Facebook @thesanfoundation

You can follow us now on instagram @sanfoundation

We are so disappointed that our usual events will have to be re-imagined this year, including our annual memorial service and our annual donor luncheon. We will stay in touch with you about alternative arrangements, but for now please know that we will greatly miss the opportunities to catch up with you all in person and we look forward to gatherings in person in the future.

Events this year