Julie Combe and Helen Williams know what it's like to receive cancer treatment, with both women experiencing their own personal cancer diagnosis.
Without a shadow of a collective doubt, Julie, BAFFC Chairperson and Helen, BAFFC Vice-Chairperson believe that a new Barossa Hospital would benefit the greater Barossa community, and not just those tackling cancer treatment.
"The Barossa people would benefit 100 per cent," said Julie.
The Barossa Area Fundraisers for Cancer, or BAFFC, is a group of volunteers that work hard raising funds to provide support services and help reduce the impact of cancer in the Barossa Valley community and surrounding regions.
The group provides community transport cars, a home assist program, palliative care rooms for cancer patients, massage, physiotherapist, J-Care bags with skincare and toiletry items, access to prosthesis fitting and lending services to wigs and headwear.
"It would be mind-boggling to have a hospital service of that kind here," said Julie.
"It's been promised for so long and I think people become apathetic to hearing about it.
"If it was up and done and dusted, it would just be so tremendous for not only cancer patients, but the general wellbeing of the community," she shared.
Helen thinks there wouldn't be many people who would be against a new hospital.
"Everybody has been talking about it for so long," said Helen.
When Helen moved to the Barossa 25 years ago, a new hospital was being talked about back then.
"It was quite devastating when it came to pass that it wasn't going ahead, with no foreseeable future of an outcome of a hospital,'' Julie shared.
It goes without saying that a new Barossa Hospital would be beneficial to the community, according to Julie, and to them, it would simply be the best thing ever.
"We have so many people travelling for treatment, that when you have this wretched disease, the last thing that you want is to be going any distance," Julie said.
People are currently travelling to Lyell McEwin Hospital, at Elizabeth Vale and to various hospitals and clinics throughout Adelaide to receive their cancer treatment.
"Our transport services can take people to those locations and we haven't got a problem with that, but when you are travelling this journey, everything is an effort, even when you're being picked up," said Julie.
When you get to a hospital, it's not just walking in, Julie explained, it can be waiting for up to one hour to receive the treatment, and then it's the duration of the treatment, which can take between one hour and six hours.
"When you're at Lyell McEwin Hospital, it's like a cattle yard, people in and people out - it's a revolving door," Julie said.
"The staff are lovely, but they are always in a hurry, and they have 12 chairs that they use in the chemo ward and those chairs are never vacant.
There could be 25 people or more in the waiting room, at any given time and there's never a seat out there that's free," Julie said.
The ladies shared the sentiment that to have a hospital in the Barossa Valley, where friends and family who live locally could see them during treatment and sit with them, would be so beneficial.
They explained how important it is to have people around you that you know while you're travelling through a cancer diagnosis, and not everyone has family who can take time off work.
"There are a lot of very sad cases where people have absolutely nobody, and might have two or three little ones," shared Helen.
Julie also shared her experience of oncologists being stretched thin, as they travel between various medical institutions, often resulting in phone consultations due to lack of in-person availability.
"Being that this is the last person that deals with you, for your life diagnosis, you would really like to speak with somebody face to face," she shared.
"The last phone consult was when my oncologist gave me the results of my last scan and he just said to me, 'it's not good.'
"So on the phone…it's cold," said Julie.
If a hospital was available in the Barossa Valley, both women believe that things would be different.
Julie believes Lyell McEwin Hospital is stretched to the limit.
"A local hospital with the facilities that are needed in today's world, would just open all the doors, said Helen.
"We're not talking about a rec centre, we're talking about a hospital," Helen stated.
The Barossa region is growing, with an influx of young families moving to the region, and a growing aged community.
"Yes we do have some good facilities here, but there is always room for improvement," Julie said.
"A local hospital would bring in local, caring people who could sit down with that person and BAFFC could also come in as a support," Julie said.
"It's desperately needed - there are a lot of people out there, who quite honestly have no-one," she said.
A current goal for BAFFC is creating a future wellness centre, which could be an offshoot for the hospital, where people could be referred to after diagnosis.
"They could go and talk to someone, like a McGrath Breast Care nurse, and families would also receive support," Julie said.
"The whole consensus of this hospital would be that it would be so beneficial to have all aspects of people's journey with any disease that they have, to have local people, and local expertise there to advise them.
"I moved up here in 1988 with my late husband and a hospital was promised then, and here we are all these years later," she shared.
Julie is forever the optimist, with the community talking about it long enough - now is the time to act.
"By reading about it and talking to people, I think we're getting closer than we've ever been before," said Helen.
Julie believes that with the generosity of this community, everybody would be on board to support a new hospital, in addition to stimulating the local economy and bringing in more jobs.
"A new hospital is an absolute necessity to me, in the growing community of the Barossa," Julie said.
"It would help make people feel a bit more secure, having a service that is more equipped.
"It would be a comfort for people, knowing that they're not on their own," she shared.