Toosey, your Locally Owned Care

James Denton Toosey Jnr was educated at Winchester School and at Exeter College at Oxford University in England before returning to the colony .In 1860 he married Georgina Wright of “Belchamp‘ Suffolk , England and returned to Tasmania to follow pastoral pursuits and purchase “Cressy House “ at Cressy .

Aged 51, after his father’s death and childless, he and his wife returned to England in 1888.

James Denton Toosey Jnr left certain monies with his trustees with instructions to acquire land and build a hospital for the benefit of “ the poor and needy, who may be sick and suffering in my native land, Tasmania, all to be treated free of charge “. The trustees invested this money and let it accumulate until it reached a sum large enough to adequately fund a hospital.

The Toosey Memorial Hospital was established some time prior to July 1925.

It was administered by a local board of directors and funded with monies from the bequest and community support until 1925. It became impossible to continue in this manner due to rising costs and the changing face of health care and so the facility was operated by the State health Department until 1999.

Faced with the possibility of closure it was decided to revert to community–based administration.

The community of Longford owns the Toosey complex on land leased from the state government. It is a company limited by guarantee, and the responsibility for the oversight of the facility rests with the community appointed Board. Members of the Company include over 300 community minded members of the Longford district.

The responsibility for meeting the needs of aged care in the Northern Midlands and the responsibility of the facility rests with the community appointed Board of Toosey. In conjunction with other stakeholders they work in partnership to deliver quality and flexible aged care services. The Board provides corporate governance and financial sustainability while providing service and infrastructure provision and management within available resources. They promote the facility and maintain good relationships with the community. They continually seek to improve the quality of service provided to our community.

The Toosey Foundation is responsible for the management of all fund raising for Capital works at Toosey. The Foundation consists of 6 volunteer members who meet monthly at the Toosey Day Centre. The Foundation Members themselves are not the fundraisers but it is their responsibility to engender enthusiasm in the Northern Midlands Community and they are readily available to assist any Organization or individual who is supporting Toosey.

The Community owns Toosey, which is a company limited by guarantee. Community minded people are the members of the Toosey Company. Almost 300 applications have been received and approved by the Toosey Board. Applications for membership of the Toosey Company may be made to the Board of Directors. A completed application form along with the $5.00 membership fee must be lodged with the Board for approval. If successful, members will be issued with a certificate and a membership number. Members may then attend the Annual General Meeting and have the right to vote in elections and other issues raised. Download the membership form as a pdf Members Application Form