Glencore helps deliver Angel Eye Cameras to Townsville University Hospital Neo-Natal Unit

Media statement
Townsville, Australia

Thanks to the support of the Glencore Coal Assets Australia Community Investment Project together with the Townsville Hospital & Health Service via the Brighter Lives Townsville Hospital Foundation 50 Angel Eye Cameras have been delivered.

Using telemedicine within the Townsville University Hospital Neonatal Unit, families can now remain connected to their pre-term and critically unwell babies.

The funding by Glencore, together with the Queensland Government, will enable all 50 cots in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, including Special Care Nursery places, to have access to this important technology as well as allowing the technology to be used in the NICU as a standard of care.

“Glencore is delighted to support the Angel Eye project, which will significantly improve babies’ health outcomes, decrease parental anxiety and reduce their hospital costs”, said Craig Strudwick, Social Performance Manager for Glencore’s coal business in Australia.  “As a major employer in regional Queensland, the great work done by organisations like the Hospital Foundation delivers real benefits to our own employees and families, and the wider communities where they live and work.”

Each year, Townsville University Hospital cares for more than 800 pre-term and unwell babies from in and around North Queensland. The state-of-the-art Neonatal Unit treats some of the smallest and sickest babies in Queensland and the unit is the only level six tertiary-referral centre for newborns outside of South East Queensland. The unit coordinates and undertakes the retrieval of sick babies from across North Queensland often resulting in separation of the family unit. The Angel Eye project keeps families connected through vision of their baby or babies. The implementation of Angel Eye enables families to connect to their infant resulting in decreased stress and anxiety for parents and their extended families.

Angel Eye is a ground-breaking innovation via a smart device application aimed at revolutionizing neonatal intensive care. Implementing Angel Eye technology will provide family centered care for Premature Babies and their families through a web-based camera, and aims to:

• Decrease length of stay
• Reduce infection
• Reduce associated costs
• Reduce mental health issues
• Create positive consumer experience
• Parental satisfaction

General Partnership with Townsville Hospital Foundation

Glencore’s contribution to the Hospital Foundation between 2017-2023 has been $367,500.

The following Projects have been funded in the Townsville NICU in that period.

• Baby Cams Project – total project 50 baby cams
• Refurbishment of NICU Butterfly Room (family bereavement room)
• Refurbishment of 4 x NICU Parent Short stay rooms
• Reflooring, painting, changes to waiting space / children’s play area
• Artwork and framing $12,000 for rooms and waiting rooms.
• 2 x RAD7: This is vital equipment which allows overnight monitoring and documentation of babies with chronic lung disease. It allows the NICU team to assess whether the babies will need oxygen when they return home.
• 6 x RAD5 Masimo portable saturation monitors. This small monitor is used to track changes in oxygen levels. It is used in the period leading up to babies being discharged home with parents to ensure their safety.
• 3 x Kanmed Baby Warming System. This system is used to keep babies warm; helping them to put on weight so they can go home sooner – pre-term and sick babies have problems keeping themselves warm.
• 6 x breast pump and 5 x milk warmers. Because pre-term and sick babies can have difficulties breastfeeding this equipment allows mothers to express their breast milk and warm refrigerated milk.
• 5 x breast milk refrigerators. Keeping refrigerators at babies’ bedsides is more convenient for parents and nurses and also improves infection control by reducing the number of people moving across the NICU – a benefit that has been more important than ever as a consequence of COVID-19.

For further information, please contact:

Francis De Rosa
m: +61 417 074 751
e: Francis De Rosa

Elise Pfeiffer
m: +61 408 095 530
e: Elise Pfeiffer

Notes for editors

About Glencore Australia

In Australia, Glencore produces coal, copper, cobalt, nickel, zinc, lead and silver from 23 mining operations. We also operate metals processing assets in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, including metals smelters, concentrators and refineries.

We are among Australia’s largest producers and marketers of natural resources, connecting Australian resources with industrial customers around the world. Through our diverse portfolio, we responsibly supply the resources that advance everyday life.

We employ 18,190 people in Australia and in 2022 contributed nearly $20 billion to the regional, state and national economies. This included spend of $10.4 billion with 7,370 businesses across the country, as well as $7.5 billion in government tax and royalty payments.

We are committed to providing a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace for our people, to respecting the environment, to engaging openly and constructively with the Traditional Owners on whose lands we operate and to bringing value to local communities.

Glencore recognises our responsibility to contribute to the global effort to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. Our ambition is to be a net zero total emissions company by 2050. In August 2021 we increased our medium-term emission reduction target to a 50% reduction by 2035 and introduced a new short-term target of a 15% reduction by 2026.

Learn more about Glencore Australia.