If you’ve walked through the doors at Cabrini Malvern in the past nine years, chances are you’ve been greeted by the friendly face of Dennis Horan, one of our many volunteers.

Dennis enthusiastically welcomes patients and visitors to the hospital each Monday and Wednesday morning and says it’s been an absolute privilege to get to know the Cabrini community.

“I’ve had a good life, and this has really given me the opportunity to give back,” he said.

“I help people as they come into the hospital, give them guidance, assistance or accompany them to their destination if they need me to.”

Over the past decade, Dennis has seen much change at Cabrini.

“I was here when the Gandel Wing was built, and I have to say that it’s an absolute world-class facility.

“Before it was built, it was an underdeveloped area and it really was showing signs of its age, but now we’ve got an amazing building, which continues to help us evolve with the needs of the community.

“For example, during the height of the COVID pandemic, we were able to utilise the infectious disease floor of the building to help quarantine the ill. I’m not sure how we’d have coped without it.”

While the Gandel Wing has provided a world-class facility, Dennis said there’s a great need for the hospital to continue to evolve.

“The Gandel Wing is fantastic, but when you come out of it and into the older areas of the hospital, it’s like walking into night from day.

“The corridors are a lot narrower making it harder to wheel beds and wheelchairs through, and the elevators have a similar issue.

He said the current redevelopment plans would be a major boost for all Victorians.

“I’ve worked around the healthcare industry for long enough now to know that it evolves rapidly – and there’s a real need to keep up with that evolution.

“Over my time here I’ve also seen growth demand. At the moment, we’ve got some wonderful people doing remarkable work in some unremarkable settings – this gives us the chance to give them the facilities they not only deserve, but require, to continue to serve Victoria to the high level we’ve come to expect.”