Exclusive: One of Queensland’s most famous philanthropists has revealed an “incredible” $10m donation to a vital medical service. Here’s what it’s going towards:
Royal Flying Doctor Service Chief Medical Officer Dr Randall Greenberg says it’s “really nice” to be able to help people in regional Australia. The RFDS conducts aeromedical retrievals to evacuate injured people from emergency situations in regional, rural and remote areas 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The celebrated property developer and former Toowoomba mayor brought his total donations towards various charities, services and not-for-profits to $130m over his life.
The latest gift to the RFDS will go towards “infrastructure investments” across Queensland to improve the service’s reach as well as fitting out its new flagship aircraft, a Beechcraft King Air 360.
Mr Berghofer, who has been an advocate for regional and rural health services, said he believed the RFDS was vital for communities across the state.
Developer and philanthropist Clive Berghofer
“Western Queensland is where the RFDS operates and Toowoomba is a capital to a lot of that western area, so I’ve decided to give them a sizeable donation,” he said.
“It’s a new building getting built in Brisbane and I’ve agreed to do this for them.
“My motto is health is the most important thing in life – you can’t buy health.
“The older you get, the more important health is, but even (for) the younger people, health is very important.”
Regional communities in western New South Wales are set to be better protected during weather emergencies with a new multipurpose helicopter. The Rural Fire Service unveiled the $6 million chopper on Friday at the Dubbo base of the Royal Flying Doctor Service. It is the first time a helicopter will be permanently based in Dubbo and will drastically improve emergency response capabilities in the Central West region.
RFDS Queensland chair Russell Postle said Mr Berghofer had been a long-time supporter of the doctors’ service, which transported or assisted more than 380,000 people across Australia in the past year.
“Clive Berghofer has been an incredible advocate of the RFDS for decades and has strongly supported our role in providing healthcare equity to people living, working and travelling in remote parts of the state,” Mr Postle said.
“We anticipate the funds will contribute towards large infrastructure investment across Brisbane, Mount Isa and Bundaberg as well as support the innovative cabin fit out for our new flagship aircraft, the Beechcraft King Air 360.
“As our founder, the Reverend John Flynn said, ‘if you start something worthwhile, nothing can stop it’ and Clive’s gift will help the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Queensland keep that belief alive as we celebrate our 95th birthday this Wednesday.”
Philanthropist Clive Berghofer builds on his financial support of the Toowoomba Hospice. Video: Kevin Farmer
Mr Berghofer, who himself recently turned 88, reflected on his contributions to health organisations like Toowoomba’s hospitals, Ronald McDonald House, LifeFlight, the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) and the Queensland Institute of Medical Research.
“I try to do these things for Toowoomba, that’s where I made my money,” he said.
“The RIDBC (in Toowoomba) looks after children with a site or hearing problem, and Ronald McDonald House I’ve given $3m as well – Toowoomba is the second-biggest user of them in Queensland, so that (donation) helps Toowoomba people.
“With QIMR, I’ve been involved with them for about 20 years and research is very important.
“With breast cancer, they tell me it wasn’t long ago when it was a 20 per cent survival rate, now it’s an 80 per cent survival rate (thanks to research).”
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Berghofer’s pledge to support St Andrew’s
He’s already donated millions to healthcare in Toowoomba, but philanthropist Clive Berghofer is already gearing up to give even more money to the city’s hospitals.
Mr Berghofer, who recently announced a $10m donation to the Royal Flying Doctor Service, has revealed he is in talks with St Andrews Private Hospital to support it financially.
It comes just a couple of years after Mr Berghofer donated $3m to St Vincent’s Hospital to build a new emergency department and intensive care unit – dubbed the Clive Berghofer Wing.
The celebrated property developer said he was expecting to give up to $10m to St Andrew’s, but noted nothing had been locked in.
“We’re having meetings with St Andrew’s because I want to do the same thing for them (as I did with St Vincent’s),” he said.
“They’ve got old buildings and systems — the older you get, the more important your health is and having good hospitals here has brought a lot of specialists here.
“It will be about $5-10m — they’ve got a lot of planning do, we have spoken but nothing has been settled.”
Mr Berghofer said he had also given St Vincent’s an extra $1m towards the upgrade of its car park, which the hospital said was part of his original donation.
“St Vincent’s Private Hospital Toowoomba is extremely grateful for the ongoing generous support provided by local businessman and well known philanthropist Clive Berghofer,” a spokeswoman said.
“Most recently Mr Berghofer has committed to providing almost $3 million towards the building of the new Intensive Care Unit and carpark.
“Over the years, Mr Berghofer has been a generous supporter of the hospital and has contributed to purchases of significant items of equipment and upgrades to infrastructure such as the Clive Berghofer Operating Theatre suite.”
Mr Berghofer stressed he had also supported the Toowoomba Hospital Foundation, most notably contributing significant funds towards the construction of accommodation for patients who need to travel more than 50 kilometres for care at the hospital.