NAMES REVEALED FOR TOWER CRANES
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Saso and Giganto are two names that staff, patients and visitors at Concord Hospital will become familiar with over the final two years of Stage 1 of the Concord Hospital Redevelopment.

The names, chosen by two local children, were officially announced as the winning entries in the ‘Name the Crane Competition’ during a ceremony on the Hospital campus in December 2019. The children were given the opportunity to assist in the controls of the tower cranes during the presentation.

Over 150 students from five local schools and adjoining Yaralla Childcare Centre submitted entries into the Roberts Pizzarotti competition. Chief Executive of Sydney Local Health District, Dr Teresa Anderson AM, and Alison Mirams the Chief Executive Officer of Main Works Building contractor Roberts Pizzarotti were impressed with the calibre of entries and sat down together to decide the winners before the ceremony.

Concord Public school student Iris Doh, aged 12, was thrilled to see her name lifted into the air by the crane after putting great thought into her entry.  “I chose Saso because it stands for stay strong, and I named it Stay Strong to motivate cancer patients,” she said.

When accepting her prize, Iris said she felt proud and hoped that patients who see the sign would be motivated by the message behind it. Iris relayed the story of her grandfather who had been diagnosed with cancer in Korea and explained that she wanted him to stay strong and that’s how she came up with the winning name for the crane competition.

General Manager of Concord Hospital Dr Genevieve Wallace was thrilled with the name choices. “This is a lovely example of how our community is important to us at Concord Hospital,” Dr Wallace said. “One of the names chosen is an encouraging message for our patients here at Concord … so I think that is amazing, what more could we ask for.”

Three-year-old Ava Andreassi represented her elder brother Luca at the event, and said the entry of her brother was “exciting”. Luca, 5, from Yaralla Child Care Centre named the crane Giganto because “it was big and gigantic”.

Iris and Ava both donned hard-hats and directed the crane drivers via radio to reveal their chosen names when they said “stop”. The crane driver then revealed both the names on a large signage board and this was greeted with generous applause and a few “well done” comments by the people in attendance at the ceremony.

The $341 million first stage of the Redevelopment of Concord Repatriation General Hospital is about realising a vision for the future for the community – a modern hospital that matches the clinical care offered by the team of health professionals.

“I know that the two winning names will be further reminder of that connection,” Dr Wallace said. “This will be a daily reminder to our staff, our builders and our visitors.”

Ms Mirams thanked Yaralla Childcare Centre and the local schools surrounding Concord who entered the competition. “We were thrilled with the responses,” she said.

The construction of the new seven-storey clinical services building is an exciting development for Concord Hospital and when completed in late 2021, the redeveloped site will serve the growing community in Sydney’s inner west for many years to come.