“We see about 15,000 injured, orphaned and sick animals in this region each year,” said Wildlife Vet Nurse Kim Hollis-Simpson yesterday as the first sod was turned for the construction of a new specialist $2.8 million Northern Rivers Wildlife Hospital (NRWH) near Wollongbar. 

"People bring them to vets in private practice who are already overburdened," she said. "They care for wildlife in their own time at their own expense. Heavy caseloads mean that injured wildlife can't always receive the care they need in the time they need it. Often wildlife carers are left to fill the gap by covering the cost of animal treatments out of their own pockets or by doing the best they can at home in the absence of medical help,” said Hollis-Simpson.

“Wildlife carers were driving our sick and injured animals up to Currumbin and the tragedy is that many of them weren't surviving, they needed critical, immediate care.”

Vets, nurses and carers care “deeply” for these animals, she said. “It can be devastating for us when we feel we have failed these animals.”

The new state-of-the-art wildlife hospital is designed to bring the best possible outcomes to ailing wildlife. 

Ballina Mayor Sharon Cadwallader performed the honours at a special ceremony attended by local MPs, wildlife carers, environmental agencies as well as Members and supporters of Northern Rivers Wildlife Hospital (NRWH). 

Ninian Gemmel, Chair of the NRWH thanked the Mayor and Ballina Council for its role in approving the Development Application and Construction Certificate. He also acknowledged the invaluable assistance of NSW DPI who had facilitated a Crown Land Lease for the Not-for-Profit Wildlife Hospital at the rear of their property on Lindendale Road. 

Sue Higginson MLC recalled her friend the late Tony Gilding, former owner of Macadamia Castle and animal advocate, insisting that the hospital is necessary. “Tony was our champion for the voiceless and wildlife. He called me in 2017 and said 'Sue we need a wildlife hospital.' And I said 'no, no, no Tony. We want to protect wildlife in nature. We want to create more habitat protection, more conservation areas for wildlife.' And he said 'Sue, I am going to put it to you that we need a wildlife hospital.”

In the meantime Bangalow vet Megan Kearney had generated a masters project that presented the case in terms of the data, the numbers, proving that “the wildlife carers were needed,” says Hollis-Simpson, “the organisations involved were saying the reality is our incredible carer network that has been in this region for so long was actually breaking under the pressure and the strain. Once all of this was revealed the case for the Northern Rivers Wildlife Hospital has been shining bright in no uncertain terms.”

Hollis-Simpson listed the new facilities that the NRWH will have upon completion:

• Dedicated consulting rooms
• ICU and ward facilities fitted out with the latest enclosures designed for patient well-being
• A fully equipped surgical theatre
• A triage room with a dual station treatment reducing waiting time for patients.
• A radiology room equipped with a digital x-ray and ultrasound machine.
• A lab
• A wildlife kitchen
• A reptile ward
• An isolation ward
• A rehabilitation centre

"It will be a front-line service for wildlife, there will be a large flat site prepared for the erection of emergency facilities to treat mass casualties during disasters.”

Hollis-Simpson is excited about “the ability to rehab many species, including raptors, freshwater birds, freshwater turtles and other small mammals. This institution will be a champion for conservation through smart advocacy, education and research, and I think will be an ongoing legacy for generations to come. This is a part of our regional community that is going to play an essential role in how we as a community with wildlife adapt to climate change. We have seen it with bushfires and we have seen it with floods. At the moment our wildlife across this state is really struggling.”

Since 2017, Hollis-Simpson says “dozens and dozens” of people have been involved in bringing the hospital to fruition. “We have a veterinary advisory committee, we have been relying on wildlife carers for ideas and advice, as you can see today council, state government have all been involved. It's been a massive, massive project for a lot of people.”

"It hasn't always been easy, even apart from Covid and floods, there have been quite a few checks and balances that have been quite hard-fought. We've jumped through all the hoops we needed to jump through so there won't be any more surprises. Working with Ballina Council there were days where I walked out in tears and days when I walked out elated. It's been a lot of work, a lot of sacrifice for a lot of people.”

"But," she said looking at the building that used to be a residence and is currently stripped out, “this is the payoff. It had to be in partnership with our government and it had to be on Crown land because we know that wildlife here in New South Wales is actually the responsibility of our government in partnership with the community. So it had to belong to the community and come from the community.”

The site on Lindendale Road, near Wollongbar was partly chosen because it is out of fire and flood zones. 

As cattle graze in paddocks on the other side of the road, the newly acquired Wildlife Transport vehicle was parked outside. The van will do pickups and take animals to and from the hospital. But given the volume of animals needing care, Janelle Saffin MP joked, “we might need a fleet of those.”

Former MP Catherine Cusack said that funding had come “from a variety of different grants, bequests and donations.” A further grant of $1.4m from the state government “is going through the processes.”

Cusack says there will be no competition with the Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital. “No, no, no. We are working together to provide a matrix and integrated service.”

Saffin says, “We're still continuing to advocate for support for the Mobile Wildlife Hospital. The Wollongbar location will serve wildlife and support rescuers and carers from Clarence to Tweed and west to Kyogle.”

And she says, “How we care for our animals, the wildlife, says something about us as a society. And it is fantastic that animals have been put front and centre here. We care about animals, whether they are domestic or in the wild.”