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Fundraising a year-round proposition for hospital foundation

Summer is a slow time of year for the Sturgeon Community Hospital Foundation, but the fundraising efforts never really stop.
FUNDRAISING CONTINUES – The summer months are slow
FUNDRAISING CONTINUES – The summer months are slow

Summer is a slow time of year for the Sturgeon Community Hospital Foundation, but the fundraising efforts never really stop.

Foundation director Katrina Black said the not-for-profit group, which supports equipment purchases and “extras” at the hospital to help raise the quality of care, is basically busy year round.

“We never stop fundraising. We go 12 months out of the year, but in fairness July and August are much slower,” she said. “I use that time for planning upcoming projects.”

And in light of the province’s recent economic woes and a budget that’s been delayed until the fall donations have been down, somewhat below the annual $1 million the foundation has achieved in recent years.

That, however, has not dissuaded Black and the board of trustees that run the foundation from pushing forward with a $1.5-million fundraising goal in support of four large projects at the hospital by the end of the fiscal year in March 2016.

There are four main projects the foundation is currently fundraising for.

It aims to raise $500,000 to help expand the medicine program with new beds, something Black said is crucial in terms of helping relieve pressure on the system.

“We don’t have enough beds, I’m sure you’ve heard that,” Black said. “People get jammed up in emergency because there’s no beds so they’re there waiting for a bed, and this is what causes all the other issues.”

Another $500,000 is being earmarked to enhance neonatal intensive care at the hospital to ensure new mothers and babies can stay together. Currently, newborn babies needing intensive care are often transferred to a larger hospital in Edmonton where there may not be space for both mother and baby.

There is also $250,000 planned for buying enhanced surgical equipment and the same amount for assisting research into upper-extremity care. Black explained the hospital is already known for quality orthopedic surgery on upper limbs, and the goal is to enhance that reputation.

She explained while the provincial funding provided to Alberta Health Services that’s directed to the hospital covers all the basics, the foundation steps in to provide some of the “extras” that can serve to improve and enhance that patient-care experience.

Shirley Baumgartner, the patient-care manager at the Sturgeon, said it’s difficult to overstate the importance of the work the foundation does; the equipment purchased by the foundation significantly enhances the quality of care.

“We wouldn’t be able to do the work we do to provide acute care to the patients without these types of equipment,” she said. “This is just over and above what we normally have on site, and it really helps with our growing population, our growing activity and our growing need.”

The three major fundraising events for the foundation are the Paint the Town Red event in Morinville in September, a gala in January and a golf tournament in June, but Black emphasized the donations tend to come in year-round.

For more information, visit www.sturgeonhospitalfoundation.org.

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