The Standard

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PetersProject
PETERS Project is a campaign
to bring improved cancer-care
services to south-west Victoria,
named in honour of Peter Jellie
who lost his life to cancer in 2009.
The project aims to integrate
and develop cancer-care services
to provide a one-stop shop for
patients in south-west Victoria
and south-east South Australia.
The campaign was officially
launched on February 17 last
year and was the first step

of a long-term plan to bring

radiotherapy services, a magnetic
resonance imaging machine and
other support programs to the
south-west.
The campaign will ultimately
involve community fund-raising
but will also rely on state and
federal government backing. In
December last year the Baillieu
government committed to build a
cancer-care centre in the southwest within three years.

Vicki Jellie with a photo of her late husband Peter.

100416LP55

An Advertising Feature of The Standard

Support for
Vickis dream
By ALEX SINNOTT
THE dream of one woman determined to see cancer patients
receive proper medical care in
their community has achieved
much in a short period.
Warrnambool woman Vicki
Jellie launched Peters Project
12 months ago, recruiting some
of the districts best-known
movers and shakers to fight
for an integrated cancer-care
centre based in the south-west.
Midfield Meat chief executive Colin McKenna, former
Warrnambool mayor Glenys
Phillpot, St John of God
Healthcare chief executive Glyn
Palmer, oncologist Terri Hayes
and chartered accountant
Michael Beks all joined her
crusade when the initiative was
launched in February 2010.
The campaign was established in response to the federal
government commissioning
cancer centre feasibility studies
in a number of regional cities
throughout Australia.
Warrnambool missed out on
a federal study early last year
a hurdle which only steeled

the Peters Project committees

resolve to gain adequate cancer
care services in the region.
Their hard work led to
growing support within the
community, peaking when The
Standard officially endorsed
the campaign in April.
In a five-page spread, the
newspaper documented why the
south-west needed an integrated cancer centre including
Mrs Jellies recounting her
story about how the campaign
came to being.
She told The Standard that
the seeds of the campaign were
first planted when she held a
fund-raiser in honour of her
late husband Peter two years
ago. Mr Jellie died of oesophagus cancer in September 2008
and spent several of his last
weeks of life receiving treatment in a Melbourne hospital.
I sat down and I thought
about all the people in the
Warrnambool community who
had got things done over the
past few years. The people who
want to make a difference, Mrs
Jellie said.
It may be called Peters

Project but its not about Peter

any more. Its about all those
people who live in Warrnambool
and the region and are missing
out on proper treatment close
to home.
Regional Cities Minister
Denis Napthine said Peters
Project had made impressive
progress within a short period
of time, considering the southwest air ambulance campaign
took more than 12 years to
secure its goal.
He said the media and public
pressure generated by Mrs
Jellie and her team delivered
results, with the newly-elected
state government committing
to the construction of a cancercare centre in Warrnambool
within its first term.
Peters Project has achieved
an incredible amount in less
than a year, Dr Napthine told
The Standard in December.
First, the feasibility study
that the Brumby government
was embarrassed into, then
an MRI service at South West
Healthcare.
Its a credit to Vicki and her
team.

WS717059-LS-25/2

What is Peters Project?

FRIDAY, February 25, 2011 25