Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation hit the mark in a fundraising campaign that will allow Nanaimo Regional General Hospital to have B.C.’s first senior-friendly emergency department.
Barney Ellis-Perry, hospital foundation CEO, said the concept seemed to resonate with community members when the foundation put out the ask for $1.2 million in its winter campaign, seeking funds for the initiative.
“For some people that was $10,” Ellis-Perry said. “There were people who came in here on their walkers and their canes and said, ‘I live pension cheque to pension cheque, but I’d like to make this $10 donation.’ That means the world. That’s huge.”
Complimenting those individual donations was a $250,000 matching gift from the Rogers Foundation.
“And that unleashed other money. People love a match, and apparently, even between Christmas and New Year’s, there were people rushing in the door to get their gift in to make sure it was matched before the end of the year.”
Planned to open next winter, the senior-friendly emergency room will be created out of an unused overflow section of the existing emergency room, making it specifically tailored to patients 65 and older, which make up 35 per cent of intakes.
In the section, lighting will be dimmed, sound will be dampened and staff will be trained in geriatrics, with accessible specialized equipment at the ready. There will also be safety doors preventing patients from leaving the department or getting lost.
The $1.2 million will be divided between physical changes to the space and specialized equipment, which would include pressure-reducing beds, lift chairs and comfort carts for long stays.
While funding for the room has been completed, efforts for other winter campaign items remain ongoing, including $600,000 for wound and outpatient care and $500,000 in support of the new Parksville Treatment Centre for mental health and addictions recovery.
“There’s certain projects that really take off, and others don’t,” Ellis-Perry said. “In this case, the seniors’ friendly emergency – the minute we started talking to people they got it and they wanted to support it.”
Other initiatives that did receive funding over the season include $1 million for NRGH cancer equipment, and $60,000 from the Ladysmith Health Care Auxiliary for the purchase of new fetal monitors.