The Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation says facilities from the North, and Central, Island will be getting their share of over $1.8 million.
According to a media release, the money was raised as part of the Winter Giving Campaign, with 1,800 donors contributing to the foundation, making it the largest amount the foundation has seen in its history.
CEO Barney Ellis-Perry says the support donors contributed to healthcare has been truly inspiring and shows how a community can come together.
“This is an amazing response, we were so thrilled that folks see the need to help improve healthcare,” he says. “This supports everyone from the Malahat to the very tip of the island.”
Funding will go to help support hospitals, and long-term care homes, and Ellis-Perry says their focus is on helping improve the frontline workers by supporting a variety of services.
“We can fund equipment on the priority list that the government can’t and take the strain off our healthcare workers that are doing their absolute best,” he says.
Some of the listed items the Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation are looking to improve are equipment in the new High Acuity Unit, x-ray suites at Oceanside Health Centre, support for three long-term care homes in Central Island, and urgent medical equipment at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
Ellis-Perry says although the money will mainly go towards helping improve facilities at these facilities, they haven’t excluded supporting other areas like mental health.
“We are in conversation with Island Health about improving mental health,” he says. “We want to know where we can come in with community support to improve services in our community.
“We are doing a couple of small projects, but we are looking for some bigger ones.”
The foundation, according to Ellis-Perry, is also looking to play a more active role in advocating and providing funds for priority projects. He says the areas they are passionate about focusing on are securing a Cath Lab, a new Patient Tower in Nanaimo, Cancer Care, and Cardiac Care.
