A huge thank you to Kawartha Clean Air & Burning Sensations Home Comfort Centre for their Summer Sizzle Raffle, which raised $9,000 in support of reinvestment in Peterborough Regional Health Centre’s Cardiac Cath Lab!
We’re grateful for this generous donation, and everyone who supported this initiative – by buying tickets, helping with ticket printing and sales, and getting the word out. And congratulations, Dawn, winner of the Napoleon gourmet grill valued at $1,800!
It seems there was an issue at our mail house and some donors received a postage-paid envelope addressed to the Youth Emergency Shelter (YES) with their recent issue of The Pulse. Our vendor apologizes for their error and any confusion it may have caused.
If you received the incorrect envelope and were intending to mail us a tribute, donation or legacy notification, please give us a call at 705-876-5000 or send us an email and we’d be happy to send you a new postage-paid envelope in the mail. You can also visit the related pages on our website any time.
In the meantime, we’ve been in touch with our friends at YES and they will ensure any mail sent to them in error is identified and forwarded to us right away. Thank you to everyone who reached out to alert us to the issue, and to all of you for supporting your hospital!
Peterborough Regional Health Centre has an incredible team of nurses, staff and doctors. Over the last year, they have demonstrated courage and strength while continuing to provide care and support for patients and their families.
We’re so proud of them, and grateful for the work they do, every day. And we’re grateful to all of the donors who have helped us support them throughout the pandemic.
Donor generosity funded tools and supports such as additional scrubs, new plexiglass screening stations at hospital entry points, and iPads and supportive equipment for the Virtual Visiting Program so isolated patients can connect with loved ones.
Thanks to your donations, PRHC is better positioned in 2021 to continue caring for as many patients as possible while keeping patients, families, volunteers and PRHC’s 3,200 workers safe.
Now, PRHC Foundation is honoured to partner again with your hospital to show our healthcare providers how much we – and you, through your donations and kind messages of thanks – appreciate them. This week, 3,200 wellness kits made possible by the generosity of Foundation donors are being delivered to the Health Centre’s nurses, staff and physicians. Each kit includes both fun and healthy treats, and self-care products.
We also included one of a selection of the hundreds of personal notes of appreciation Foundation donors sent to us this year for our PRHC team members. We join the hospital in hoping these tokens of our and your gratitude bring a smile to their faces.
As they tackle the third wave, our work continues. Our mission has never been more important. In addition to funding PRHC’s most urgent needs including COVID-19, your gifts are helping to give the hospital’s experts the essential tools they need to save lives.
If you’d like to support your hospital, please visit prhcfoundation.ca/love/. There you can send a message to the PRHC team and make a donation in their honour. Thank you for continuing to show them your grateful hearts!
Read an e-version of the PRHC Foundation’s Spring 2021 issue of The Pulse newsletter to find out more about how you are making great care possible at Peterborough Regional Health Centre.
Dr. Mario Voros is a PRHC Radiologist who’s leading the charge to bring two new, state-of-the-art CT scanners to the hospital. We asked him to tell us about this cutting-edge equipment and how it will improve care for thousands of patients in our region…
What is CT scan technology?
A CT – or computed tomography – scan is a more powerful, dynamic, moving X-Ray. Unlike a traditional 2-dimensional X-Ray, CT scanners create hundreds of incredibly detailed cross-sectional images and 3-dimensional images of a patient’s anatomy. They’re unique because they can display a combination of soft tissue, bones and blood vessels in a single image.
Why are CT scans an important diagnostic tool?
Radiologists call CT the workhorse – or backbone – of the hospital. At PRHC, about 28,000 CT scans are performed each year because they’re crucial to rapidly confirming a diagnosis and beginning lifesaving treatment for many seriously sick or injured patients. We perform a CT scan for patients with head injuries to rule out a brain bleed. We use CT for rapid stroke assessment and to identify blockages or damage in arteries. We image for common issues like kidney stones and appendicitis. We use CT in cancer care. CT helps doctors diagnose fractures and issues related to trauma. A chest CT can even identify some consequences of COVID-19, like pneumonia.
Why does PRHC need new CT equipment?
PRHC’s current CT scanners are more than 12 years old and nearing the end of their lifespan. They must be replaced with new equipment. This is an opportunity to make significant advancements in our critical CT services because the technology has come a long way in a decade. We need the most advanced imaging technology available, so that every doctor at PRHC can do our jobs to the best of our ability.
How will the new CT scanners benefit patients?
The new CT scanners will fit the needs of the hospital now and well into the future. They’re the best available scanners on the market. They’re faster, meaning shorter scan times. This is better for all patients, but especially those in pain or distress. They’ll provide much better-quality images, making it easier for my colleagues and me to see what’s happening inside a patient’s body. And there’s less radiation used during a scan, which means less risk to the patient.
How will donors help make this equipment advancement possible?
The government doesn’t fund most of the technology doctors, nurses and staff use to provide patient care every day. So, we rely on donors to help us invest in equipment that is vital to the world-class care we provide to patients from across our region. It’s donors who make that care possible by giving to the PRHC Foundation to help fund cutting-edge tools, like essential new CT scanners. And at PRHC, we’re all very grateful for that support.
For more information or to support this exciting investment, please click here or call 705-876-5000.
UPDATE (Apr. 15, 2021): Enzo has sold out of his beautiful birdhouses! Thanks to your enthusiastic response to his fundraiser, he’s all out of corks. Thank you to everyone who supported this creative initiative, and to Enzo and Susan for their commitment to PRHC Foundation!
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Enzo Curcio has been inspired to support the PRHC Foundation as a way to say thanks to Peterborough Regional Health Centre’s doctors, nurses and staff for the care his wife, Susan, received during a hospital stay. This spring, he’s making birdhouses from corks to raise funds in support of the equipment and technology PRHC’s healthcare professionals use to provide that world-class care!
Enzo’s cork creations are available for purchase (cash only) until April 30. Different sizes are available, with prices starting at $25.
Thank you, Enzo and Susan, for your commitment to your regional hospital! And thanks to Clifford Skarstedt/Peterborough Examiner for this great photo of Enzo with his beautiful birdhouses!
Recently, donor generosity funded the Power System 8, a battery-operated handpiece used for up to 1,300 orthopedic surgeries every year at PRHC.
Used nonstop for elective surgeries as well as with trauma cases such as broken hips, this one handpiece with interchangeable attachments is an essential tool for total joint replacement and helps patients achieve a more active lifestyle without the pain or disability they experienced before surgery. The upgraded handpiece can also be temporarily submerged for increased sterilization, helping reduce the risk of infection for our patients.
Cheryl Richards, PRHC Surgical Suite Assistant, says “Thank you!” to everyone who helped fund this essential piece of equipment. Because of the generosity of PRHC Foundation donors, orthopedic surgery patients are receiving the care they need to recover from their pain and injuries.
If you’d like to make an impact, please donate online, or for more information, please call 705-876-5000.
At age 41, Melissa Hinze was a typically busy working mom, running a home business. But in October 2016, she visited PRHC’s Breast Assessment Centre with a suspicious lump. Scans revealed cancer in both breasts. She had biopsies and received an emergency diagnosis on the spot.
Melissa’s instinct was to fight. “What do we do next?” she asked. She met a patient navigator, received a referral for surgery, and shortly thereafter, had a double mastectomy. Since then, with her focus on living with cancer under the care of Dr. Neera Jeyabalan, Melissa has had hormone treatments, chemotherapy, further surgeries and hospital stays.
“PRHC is second to none,” she says about the donor-funded equipment and technology she’s so thankful for. She can’t imagine having to travel and stay elsewhere for treatment. Instead, all her care happens close to home.
Receiving care locally has been essential to Melissa’s ability to stay motivated. It’s allowed her to see life a little differently and notice what she calls “the silver linings” that come from having world-class cancer care close to home, thanks to donor generosity.
“Coming in here [to PRHC] and having great care is number one,” Melissa says, and for that she’s extremely grateful. “Because of this community, I have great care and the smartest, compassionate doctor. Even during COVID-19, I always feel safe coming to PRHC.” This allows her and her husband to focus on her care and healthy living at home, where she’s spending a lot more quality time with her kids.
Our deepest thanks to the Chemung Lake District Lions Club who have made a transformational gift of $250,000 in support of reinvestment in Peterborough Regional Health Centre’s Cardiac Cath Lab!
This very generous donation will help fund the advanced equipment cardiac patients from around our region depend on for minimally invasive, lifesaving care closer to home. Without it, thousands of patients from central eastern Ontario might have to travel as far away as Kingston or Toronto at a time when every second counts. The Lions’ donation will go a long way toward keeping this level of care at PRHC.
Thank you, Chemung Lake District Lions! We’re so grateful for your visionary commitment to regional cardiac care.
Dan Moloney has been a dedicated volunteer with the PRHC Foundation for 10 years and his continued service is being recognized with an Ontario Volunteer Service Award from the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. He’ll be honoured for his volunteer contributions at a virtual ceremony this month.
Dan is a hardworking, fun-loving volunteer and strong leader who’s committed to making a difference in our community, and we’re grateful to work with him. Thank you for your decade of service, Dan!
