(Judy Hollingworth, Chairperson - Manning Valley Push 4 Palliative with Ted Mckellar and his Taxi)
Ted’s Taxi – a Taxi designed for disabled passengers owned by Ted McKellar in the town of Taree in Regional NSW, has been providing non-urgent patient transport services for Manning Base Hospital over the past 19 years.
Acknowledging his association with the Manning Base Hospital and his relationship with the community of the region for almost two decades. Ted’s Taxis now proudly promotes ‘’Manning Valley Push 4 Palliative” initiative at the back of the Taxi via a poster. The aim of this new upgrade is to increase awareness about Palliative care amongst the community of the region around Taree, Forster, Gloucester, and Harrington, along with the patient transport services being provided by Ted. Palliative care is not just an end of life care but also care to provide better quality of life to the vulnerable members of our community.
In 2001, Ted was approached by the Manning Base Hospital to provide patient transport services. Ted had a wheelchair accessible Taxi and began to provide the services and the rest is history.
The services of Ted’s Taxi have been extremely useful when an ambulance was not available in the region and patients had to travel safely to the hospital. Over time the services offered by Ted received great positive feedback from the community of the region as more and more patients were transported to hospitals, nursing homes, etc.
Ted’s Taxi has provided a prompt and a reliable service over the years through continuous development, adjusting to the changing regulations governing the NSW Taxi Industry. They have transported patients to Sydney, Newcastle, Macksville and all other towns in between.
Under the current COVID-19 restrictions in place in NSW, Ted’s Taxi is only involved in providing patient transport services to the hospital, thus helping prevent the spread of the virus in the community.