By ANEEKA SIMONIS
SHE helped save what was then Berwick’s only hospital and it is within the same hospital’s new corridors that she marked a century milestone.
Ella Hancock celebrated her 100th birthday with many family and nursing staff at St John of God (SJOG) Hospital in Berwick on Wednesday 30 December.
It was fitting that she celebrated a milestone year at the hospital, given her involvement in helping the hospital reach its own.
Ella has been connected to the Berwick community all her life and served on the hospital committee member in the 1950s and 1960s.
It was during her time on the committee that the hospital, then known as the Berwick Bush Nursing Hospital, was saved from closure.
SJOG Berwick community relations coordinator Gillian Coyle attributed the continued operation of the hospital in part to the works of the committee.
Ella was showered in love for her special day and has since been released from hospital.
