CAIRNS, Australia - April 19, 2020 - Cairns Private Hospital is giving Ochre Restaurant a financial shot in the arm by ordering 200 lunch meals for hospital staff, to be delivered today.

Cairns Private Hospital Chief Executive Officer Ben Tooth said he would be buying lunch for his staff from different local eateries over the coming weeks in a bid to help keep local businesses stay afloat during the COVID-19 lockdown.

"We're starting off with lasagne and barramundi spring rolls from Ochre restaurant", said Mr Tooth, who was also CEO of The Cairns Clinic and Cairns Day Surgery.

"While the restaurant has closed to dine-in patrons, it has been incredibly innovative in offering takeaway and home delivery of meals so it can remain a viable business during the current restrictions and we want to support them.

"Apart from helping local businesses, this is also about saying thank you to our hard-working employees who have been nothing short of heroes during these challenging times."

Co-owner of Ochre Restaurant, Craig Squire, said he had combined his kitchen team with his other business Tropic Spirit Catering to cut overheads and to continue to offer a wide variety of meals.




"This initiative by Cairns Private Hospital is fantastic at helping businesses like ours survive this difficult time," Mr Squires said.

"All of the ingredients we use in our dishes are sourced from local producers, so this is helping farmers and growers across the region as well.

"The barramundi in the spring rolls we've made for Cairns Private Hospital staff comes from Barramundi Gardens at Julatten and the beef in the lasagne is from the Tablelands, while the cheese and butter are from Gallo and the milk is from Mungalli Creek."




Mr Tooth said staff at Ramsay's Cairns facilities would enjoy lunch from different local businesses over the coming weeks.

"These are challenging times for the health care industry and we are really committed to ensuring all of our staff know how much they are appreciated," he said.

"We have a philosophy of 'people caring for people' and we are really proud of our teams who are continuing to personify this as they look after patients from our community."

For more information: https://www.ramsayhealth.com/

Contact
Sequel PR