24 Medical Clinic

Swim for Life

Swim for life is a fundraiser aimed towards raising money to build a new hospital or 24 hour medical centre, on Phillip Island.

At present, there is no hospital on Phillip Island. The only hospital on Phillip Island was Warley Hospital, which was shut down in 2008 due to the financial problems after the change in government.

Currently the closest hospital to Phillip Island is in Wonthaggi, over half an hour away, and back on the main land.

This means in the case of a major accident, in an emergency, if there is a road closure or a traffic jam, the only way to get an injured person/s or critically ill person to a Hospital is to get them off Phillip Island by air/helicopter, which is a costly and not always accessible means of transport.

There is also another problem related to safety, that the people of Phillip Island have been facing, and that is the lack of ambulances or safety services in the area- which is an alarming truth given that Phillip Island is home to over 7000 permanent residence and is also one of Victoria, and Australia’s most popular tourist destinations- with over 3.5 million visitors a year and 50000 holiday makers.

The main theme of this swim is to raise awareness of this issue, to the broader community – there is no hospital on Phillip Island, and we would like there to be one, we need one, it is unsafe not to have one and hopefully, this swim can help raise enough money to build and run a new one.

My involvement is as simple as a young woman, wanting to give back to a community that has supported me so much over the years on my journey as an elite athlete, a Paralympian, and an Islander.