Blayney Rotary had successfully raised over $150,000 for the project, an amount that allowed the project to be put out to tender by the Western Local Area Health Service (WLAHS) engineer Peter Rudge.

Of the four companies that received the tender documents, only two responded and Mr Rudge informed the Rotary committee that he needed to accept the lowest tender that came in at $173,810.

After securing $154,178, which included Blayney Rotary’s special purpose account and a total of $85,000 in donations from health minister Jillian Skinner, a grant from the NSW Department of Health and also a grant from Cadia Valley Operations, Rotary members found themselves short of $19,631.

Chair of the Palliative Care Project, Miles Hedge, said that although they were disappointed that the tenders came in above the original estimate developed by the team, it would be a mistake to quit so close to the line.

“We have the tender from Brownrite Building Group in Dubbo and once they get started, the room will be up and running by June,” he said. “It just needs to be done.”

Importantly Mr Hedge stipulated that the contract would be in the name of WLAHS and all that Rotary would need to do is transfer the balance of the funds into the WLAHS account that currently holds the $85,000 already donated by the groups above.