Toosey, your Locally Owned Care

Toosey has been a health and medical facility at Longford in the heart of its Northern Midlands community, since it was completed in 1924.

More than 100 years later, Toosey remains the same community-focused facility that James Denton Toosey Jnr intended when he bequeathed his colonial estate for the acquisition of land to build a hospital for the poor and needy, the sick and suffering in Northern Tasmania.

James Denton Toosey’s trustees, Mr R.L. Parker and Colonel G.E. Harrap, carefully carried out his wishes, first investing the considerable sum of money to let it accumulate until there was enough to adequately fund a hospital.

The original Toosey, built at a cost of ten thousand pounds and opened amid much fanfare in July, 1925, is still part of the modern facility, in Archer Street, Longford, across the road from the town’s historic Anglican church and park-like grounds.

The original Toosey was an impressive building for its time, constructed in spacious grounds with room for 14 patients in two wards, one private ward and two sunrooms which were often used as private wards.

It was suitably equipped and soon gained a reputation for comfort and wellbeing which it retains to the present day.

It was administered by a local board of directors and funded with monies from the James Denton Toosey Jnr’s bequest for 25 years.

But by June 1950, as Toosey celebrated its silver jubilee, the community board was struggling to fund the hospital’s ongoing operation. It was forced to hand Toosey over to the State Government to save it. This happened at a special function attended by the then Tasmanian Health Minister Dr Reg (Spot) Turnbull.

The community maintained close connections with Toosey throughout the state-owned years with most of the staff coming from Longford or its surrounds and a strong auxiliary which raised thousands of dollars over many years to help equip the local hospital and keep it up-to-date and comfortable for its patients.

Hospital auxiliary members, staff and local doctors were among the community people who stepped up in 1999 to fight to keep Toosey open when the State Government included the Longford facility on the list of country hospitals it had decided to close as a cost cutting measure for a financially strapped health system.

During the community campaign to save Toosey, a representative group went to Hobart to negotiate a 49-year lease with the state government in which the community would take over running Toosey and set it up as an aged care facility which the group had convinced the government would have more hope of being financially viable. The group was also able to negotiate that the new facility would retain two medical beds to provide an alternative for some non-emergency patients to the Launceston General Hospital.

Long-serving Toosey Board chair Kathy Henry remembers that a community trust set up to raise $400,000 in four years for the revamped, community operated facility, managed to raise $385,000, just $15,000 shy of its target.

The money had come from the local bowls club, the golf club, cake stalls, fairs, raffles and what had become Toosey’s annual, fundraising cocktail party.

Over the next 17 years, under the new locally operated regime, Toosey made a profit every year and poured more than $7.5 million back into the facility on upgrades.

It continues to the present day, responding and expanding to the health needs of its community.

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 Toosey board, financially supported by the Toosey Foundation.

Members of the company include 300 community-minded members from the Longford district. They support the aged care and health provider to care for ageing people who wish to remain as independent as possible in their own homes or independent living units or move when the time comes to the modern, purpose built residential facility on the same site where Toosey started more than 100 years ago. .

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