Cape Breton Regional Hospital Foundation
CARING TIMES
the
February 2008 Issue No. 1
Hospital Gift Shop Funds Unique New Grants and Care” Grant Program. Our goal is to take the profits
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Volunteer Jacky Lanthier serves Manager of Patient Safety Anne MacIntyre at Fancies Gift Shop at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital.
f you’ve ever been on the main floor of the Regional
Hospital, maybe you’ve dropped by Fancies Gift Shop. Perhaps you bought a pack of gum, a cold drink or a little something to take to your friend in the hospital, but did you ever wonder who operates the store and where the money goes? Since the hospital opened, the Hospital Foundation – with the tremendous support of many dedicated volunteers – has
operated Fancies for the benefit of patients, visitors and staff. The gift shop offers a wide selection of unique gifts, jewelry, baby gifts, books, and snacks for hospital patients. The profits from Fancies have always gone back to supporting the hospital, but now we’re introducing a new program that we think will have a real impact on staff and patients. In March, the Foundation will be launching the “Comfort
from Fancies and, through a grant program, give the money directly to staff for the kinds of smaller projects that sometimes get forgotten but make your visit to the hospital more comfortable. Whether it’s reading materials in a waiting room, new blankets for hospital beds or a TV for pediatrics – we want you to feel more at home. This year the Foundation has committed a total of $60,000 ($5,000 for each grant) for this program. Department heads will submit an application and a committee will review and award the grants. So the next time you’re at the hospital please consider picking up a little something special at Fancies, and help us give everyone the “Comfort and Care” they deserve.
Rock-a-Bye Baby
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n an effort to make your trip to the hospital feel a little more like home and ensure that you can comfort your child when they’re sick or even just a little scared, the Hospital Foundation has created the Rock-a-Bye Baby program.
Eight rocking chairs have been added to the hospital: two in emergency, two in x-ray, and four in neonatal and pediatrics. The goal was simple – put rocking chairs where caregivers and children can use them. Eight rocking chairs have been
Paula Jessome and baby Samuel enjoy a rocking chair in the x-ray waiting room.
added to the hospital: two in emergency, two in x-ray, and four in neonatal and pediatrics. The program received a $1,200 donation from the staff of Scotsburn Dairy, who raised the
money during their family day ball tournament in September. Other private donations were received to support this program as well. Thank you for your support!
Fun-filled Events Buy Important New Surgical Equipment In 2007, the Hospital Foundation hosted three fun-filled Signature Events for the community: the Diamond and Denim dinner and dance, the Fairways Fore Healthcare golf tournament, and the Festival of the Greens dinner and silent auction. Together, these events raised a total $116,000. With this money, the Foundation is assisting with the purchase of C-Arm Imaging Equipment for the Operating Room. Estimated to cost $350,000, the C-Arm is used in three main surgical procedures – endovascular surgery, orthopedics, and ERCP (duct and liver related surgery). It is also used in the placement of pacemakers and
port-a-caths for cardiac patients. It’s estimated that three patients will benefit from this new piece of equipment every single day. This equipment will increase the number and types of surgical services offered at the Regional Hospital, aid in the recruitment of new specialists and, in many cases, reduce a patient’s stay from an average of 10 days to just two days. Thank you to everyone who supported and participated in our “Signature Events”! We’re looking forward to seeing you again at this year’s events.
Grateful Patient Praises Cape Breton Cancer Centre
K
imberley was in university when she learned how to do breast self exams. Completing them became a part of her monthly routine. When she was 24 she found a lump in her left breast. An ultrasound showed everything was fine. Six months later, Kimberley found another lump, this time in her right breast. “I knew something was wrong,” says Kimberley. “When I found the lump in my right breast, I thought, ‘This is not right. I don’t remember feeling a lump last month.’ If I hadn’t been doing self exams I might not have discovered it for a long time.” A few days later, she was told she needed a core biopsy. When Kimberley left the doctor’s office she looked down at the form and read: 24-year-old female, found lump in right breast, risk of cancer, probably benign due to age. That was the very first time cancer was mentioned. A week after the biopsy, at home with her parents in Glace Bay, Kimberley got a call from
her doctor. She had breast cancer. “Everything I thought I knew about life changed at that moment,” says Kimberley. “Cancer gives a whole new meaning to fear.” A few years earlier, Kimberley’s father – a non-smoker – was diagnosed and treated for lung cancer, believed to have been caused by second-hand smoke. “The very first thing my dad said to me was how wonderful the hospital staff was and how they would take really good care of me,” says Kimberley. “My dad said I would be all right because I had the ‘fighting gene’. I wanted to follow in my dad’s footsteps. He didn’t complain when he was sick, he never asked ‘why me?’ I knew that I couldn’t change the fact that I had cancer, I knew that I would have good days and bad days and I wanted to put 100 per cent in.” Kimberley underwent a lumpectomy and started chemotherapy. Chemotherapy made her sick but she says the hardest part was losing her hair.
“Losing my hair made cancer a reality.” After chemo, she had 28 sessions of radiation. During this time, her father’s illness came back. He passed away in January 2006. One year after her surgery, Kimberley’s check-up showed that she was cancer free. Reflecting on her experience she says, “Everyone in the Cape Breton Cancer Centre is in such good spirits. The nurses became like extended family as I went through the most frightful moments of my life. They are amazing! And I am extremely grateful for Dr. MacMullin and Dr. Hussein.”
Cape Breton Regional Hospital Foundation
www.becauseyoucare.ca
Thank You! Because You Care Campaign a Success
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n September, we launched the Because you Care campaign – our first-ever annual call for donations. This is a big step for us, but it’s something that we’ve wanted to do for a number of years. Our focus at the Hospital Foundation has always been on enhancing patient care and providing more services closer to home. We hear, time and again, how grateful patients are for the quality of care they receive at the Regional Hospital. When we were designing the Because you Care campaign, it seemed only natural to share some of these success stories. That’s why we included the stories of real people who have experienced the caring of our Regional Hospital staff first-hand in the campaign booklet and on our website. More than 870 of you
If you would like more information about the Cape Breton Regional Hospital Foundation, or would like to make a donation please contact:
25 Great Prizes – One Great Cause The 25 for 25 Lottery, a terrific fundraiser for the Cape Breton Cancer Centre, raised more than $75,000. Tickets were just $25, giving participants a chance to win one of 25 great prizes valued at a total of more than $55,000. Congratulations to Michelle Curtis of New Waterford, who won the grand prize of a 2008 Pontiac Wave! Michelle is pictured above in her new care, along with Damien Wilson of Ron May Pontiac and Nancy Dingwall, Chair of the Cape Breton Regional Hospital Foundation Board of Directors. Other 25 for 25 Lottery prizes included a hot tub, a trip for two to Cuba, a Caribbean cruise, a gourmet dinner for eight and a $500 shopping spree in downtown Sydney. Thanks to everyone for making our first 25 for 25 Lottery a great success!
responded with a total of more than $54,000 in donations. Your gifts will be used to support the $2 million Cancer Care project, which includes the expansion of the Cape Breton Cancer Centre and the purchase of additional treatment equipment.
Cape Breton Regional Hospital Foundation
45 Weatherbee Road, Suite 304A Sydney, N.S. B1M 0A1
Thanks, too, to our sponsors who helped make the Because you Care campaign possible: Aliant, Cape Breton Beverages, CIBC, City Printers, EarthTech. Emergency Medical Care Inc., Johnson Insurance and Ron May Pontiac. P: 902.567.7752 F: 902.567.7916 E: foundation@cbdha.nshealth.ca www.becauseyoucare.ca