At the recent meeting of the Maclean Lower Clarence Hospital Auxiliary, Mr Dan Madden reported that Mr Wayne Jones, who has had nursing experience, is the new chief executive for the northern district. A mental health plan is being developed for the Clarence and also a Palliative Care Nurse practitioner has been appointed to coordinate services. A staff satisfaction survey was conducted throughout NSW and Maclean’s result was better than average. The correspondence included a letter from the State President, Marion Dickins, thanking us for the successful zone conference which had the best attendance recorded in NSW. Zone representative, Mollie Strong, also sent a letter of congratulations. There was a donation of knitted goods and other crafts from Annabelle Fitzgerald and her elderly mother, Pat Slattery, of Ballina. Thank you to the family of the late Hilda Day for their donation. Trolley supervisor, Margaret Annand, reminded members to lock the cash box, put it in the drawer and lock it, then lock the door on leaving. The secretary reported that the auxiliary has been nominated for a Volunteer Service Award. It was decided that the auxiliary’s next major project will be the provision of a Lite Gait machine which helps disabled patients to walk again and costs $43,942. One of the members reported that the federal MP, Kevin Hogan, had spoken in parliament praising the great work done by the auxiliary in raising money for our “good little hospital”. Samples of shirts with the HA logo were displayed and discussion followed. There will be a morning tea for new members at 10am on June 7 at Irons and Craig cafe in Yamba. A garage sale is planned for early in September but a suitably large garage is needed. Any member with a double garage that could be used is asked to contact the president, Sandra, on 6646 1564. The next fundraiser will be a movie day at the Yamba cinema on Wednesday June 29. The movie is “Me Before You” which is a new release. The day will start with morning tea at 10.30am and the cost is $15 which must be paid beforehand, either at the cinema or at the next meeting which will be on Monday June 20 at 2pm in the conference room of Community Health at Maclean District Hospital. The guest speaker will be Dr Dean Robertson who is in charge of the Emergency Department. New members are welcome. Maggie Combley