A combination of fundraising events, generous individual and corporate donations, and legacy gifts have brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars to the St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation.
Becky Conly, the foundation's executive director, said the support for the foundation over the past six months has been superlative. With the $25,000 from the Eve of Destruction fundraising event at the Estevan Motor Speedway this past summer and the $56,000 realized during the Festival of Trees celebration during the Christmas season, the generosity displayed within the community continued to grow.
The hospital foundation's board of directors have approved motions to purchase $313,000 of needed equipment and upgrades during this period of time.
The overall generosity allowed the hospital to move on making the capital purchases that would otherwise not be possible.
A total of 19 items were purchased and included everything from an $80,000 purchase of state-of-the-art operating tables and $40,000 ultra-sound imager for the emergency department to a $1,000 bedside table in a medical unit.
"We raise money in order to assist St. Joseph's Hospital with costs that are not forecasted under their annual budget and are not covered by government funding. We are fortunate to have such generous businesses and individuals here in southeast Saskatchewan who truly understand the importance of a dynamic and strong health care system," said Conly.
The constantly changing and growing hospital equipment wish list was shrunk a bit in the last half of the fiscal year due to the donations and the ensuing purchases. There is still a long way to go, said Conly, since major repairs within the hospital will be needed soon.
"Improvements to health services in our community and the on-going services provided by our team of health care professionals are dependent on the St. Joseph's Hospital Foundation," said the hospital's executive director, Greg Hoffort. "We simply could not offer the services we do without the support from the foundation and the generous contributions from the community."
An upcoming radiothon with a couple of local broadcasters on March 19, will officially kick off the 2014 fundraising for the foundation that now needs to rebuild its capital funding account so they can continue to provide the hospital's capital needs. The radiothon will be held in the hospital's auditorium this year and will include features on the local Access Communications television outlet.
Some of the other items purchased with the $313,000 approved by the board were: operating table accessories at $10,000; a Billisoft system and neonatal oxygen blender for the maternity ward at a total cost of $11,500 and a couple of IV pumps and cardiac monitor for the emergency department with a total price tag of $32,000.
The long-term care wing received a new state-of-the-art blood pressure monitoring machine for $5,000 plus new window blinds for $12,000, and the laboratory picked up a centrifuge system and two ECG monitors at a total cost of $30,200.
A couple of other items for the long-term care wing were a mobile medical chair and recreational therapy equipment at $7,300.
The pharmacy in the hospital was able to procure three medication carts for $24,000 and a medication refrigerator for $6,000, and the Unit A medical wing got a bladder Doppler and Telehealth units for just over $34,000 in total.
The cafeteria in the hospital benefited from the donations when they were given the green light to purchase a hot and cold food pass through for $20,000.
Conly said any further information regarding the upcoming radiothon or wish list purchases and future needs may be obtained by contacting her through the foundation located in the hospital or by phoning 306-637-2474.
