“If PRHC had a hybrid OR, both of my surgeries could have been done in one day.”

Grateful PRHC vascular care patient and PRHC Foundation donor Mike Leach tells his patient story with the hope that you’ll donate to bring a hybrid operating room to Peterborough Regional Health Centre…

“I’m Mike Leach, and I wouldn’t be here today without PRHC and PRHC Foundation donors.

For a long time, I ignored it. My legs felt heavy. My calves cramped like bricks. Even walking short distances was exhausting.

What started as a small blister turned into a serious diabetic ulcer. I was told that without surgery, I could lose my foot.

At PRHC, my vascular surgeon Dr. Sajjid Hossain performed two separate procedures to restore blood flow in my legs: one to place a stent and another to open blocked arteries. Both surgeries worked, but they had to be done separately.

Two surgeries. Two recoveries. Twice the risk.  

If PRHC had a hybrid operating room, both procedures could have been done at the same time, in the same room, with less risk and a faster recovery.

That’s why I’m asking for your help today.

Your gift will help bring a state-of-the-art hybrid OR to PRHC. With a hybrid OR, procedures will take less time. Patients will face fewer complications and recover faster. And advanced imaging will help experts like Dr. Hossain be even more precise, spotting and managing complications right away, while keeping patients like me close to home.

Thanks to PRHC and donors, I got my independence back. I can work, garden (even if weeds are the only thing I seem to grow), and tinker in the garage. None of this would have been possible without this hospital, or the lifesaving equipment past generosity has supported.

That’s why your support matters so much. Because without your crucial investments in cutting-edge equipment, patients like me could lose more than mobility, we could lose our independence, our livelihoods, even our lives.

Your gift today will help build a hybrid operating room that will transform care for patients like me, reducing risk, shortening recovery, and giving more people in our region the chance to keep living life to the fullest. Especially since the government doesn’t fund hospital equipment. Your generosity is the only way to bring this lifesaving technology to PRHC, and to patients like me.

Thank you.”

To join Mike in donating in support of a hybrid OR, please click here.

Donors are helping transform the path from hospital to home with a new model of care for short-stay patients

On December 9, the Reactivation Care Centre opened its doors at Peterborough Regional Health Centre, providing patients with specialized care so they can return home safely. PRHC Foundation donors helped make this possible through $400,000 in funding. 

The 12-bed Reactivation Care Centre is helping PRHC patients who no longer require acute care, navigate their next steps with a new treatment model. With a focus on seniors, the Centre supports patients through short-stay admissions, where each individual works towards specific goals so they can return home in safety and comfort.

“The Reactivation Care Unit is a pilot project, ensuring that every patient has access to specialized, restorative care to prepare them for a successful discharge from the hospital,” says Dr. Lynn Mikula, President & CEO of PRHC. “It’s also helping our hospital address the increasing demands of our growing and aging community in the region.”

At the heart of the Centre is a team of skilled professionals who provide personalized, comprehensive care, working closely with caregivers as essential partners in the recovery process. This team-based approach ensures that each patient’s unique needs are met—patients like Flo Cranley (pictured above), who expressed her thanks to donors for their support of the new facility and its equipment.

Another patient benefiting from the Reactivation Care Centre is Jeff Dumoulin (pictured). A 65-year-old horse trainer, Jeff was injured in an accident with one of his horses in 2022. The incident left him with long-lasting mobility challenges, leading to frequent stays in the hospital.

“I’ve been in and out of the hospital. Every time I return home, I end up falling and coming right back,” Jeff shares. “I was trying, but I needed more support.”

When Jeff found out that he had a spot in the new Reactivation Care Centre, he felt hopeful.

“The minute I walked in the door, the staff had a plan,” says Jeff. “This is the difference of whether I go home and can walk up and down my stairs again. Everyone in my life realizes I’m getting the help I need to get back to living a functional life.”

Stories like Jeff’s are made possible by the generosity of donors who understand the importance of world-class care, close to home. Thanks to their support, $400,000 in funding was provided to the Reactivation Care Centre through the PRHC Foundation’s Campaign for PRHC.

“One of the focus areas for the campaign is to address urgent needs at the hospital as they arise,” says Lesley Heighway, President & CEO of PRHC Foundation. She explains that ‘undesignated’ gifts to the Foundation can be directed to the highest priority need, which enables a quick response to the hospital’s most pressing requests. “So it’s you, donors, who enabled us to fund critical equipment such as patient beds, vital signs monitors, and specialized wheelchairs for the Centre,” she says.

“With these gifts you’re empowering us to do what the hospital needs, quickly, when they need it. Your support is truly reimagining healthcare. Thank you!”

For more information or to donate, please call 705-876-5000 or click here.

Better care for breast cancer patients

In 2024, PRHC introduced exciting, new donor-funded technology for breast cancer patients called breast seed localization. As PRHC general surgeon Dr. Brie Banks explained at the Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival donation presentation in June, the technology is already making an impact on care. 

Essentially, breast seed localization is a tiny radioactive seed, about the size of a grain of rice, placed directly at the site of a patient’s tumour. It helps surgeons locate the tumour more precisely during surgery. 

This process is a big improvement from older methods, which were less comfortable, more invasive and stressful for patients. And the best part? Because of this donor-funded advancement, PRHC can perform more breast cancer surgeries every day. That means more patients are getting the care they need, faster.

“Having breast seed at PRHC has dramatically increased access to state-of-the-art surgery for breast cancer patients. Not only are we able to look after more patients in the day, but the process is much less difficult for them. Seed localization is more comfortable and convenient,” says Dr. Banks. “I want to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to all the donors who made this advancement possible.”

Our hearts are on the line – let’s bring new cardiac services to PRHC

“You never expect it to happen to you until it does,” says Nick Beamish.

It was Christmas time in 2018, when Nick started feeling ‘off’. An athletic guy, who coached high school sports, Nick was used to pushing his limits, so when he began experiencing extreme exhaustion, he chalked it up to stress. But as the days went on, it became harder to ignore.

With a nudge from his wife, Nick went to the emergency department at Peterborough Regional Health Centre. There, doctors hooked him up to an electrocardiogram (ECG) to test his heart. Within minutes, alarm bells started going off. “Doctors were rushing over with carts, with paddles to shock me,” he says.

Doctors discovered he had a life-threatening issue with his heart rhythm. PRHC didn’t have a Cardiac Electrophysiology – or EP – Lab to provide the necessary treatment, so Nick was rushed to Kingston for care. He spent Christmas in the ICU there, far from home and family. “It was tough and a mental struggle,” says Nick.

Since then, he hasn’t had any issues with his heart. But Nick worries it could happen again – to himself or someone else. That’s why he’s become a donor, volunteer and ambassador for the PRHC Foundation’s $60 million Campaign for PRHC, supporting bringing lifesaving electrophysiology to our region.

With donor support, an advanced Cardiac EP Lab at PRHC will bring new, world-class cardiac treatment and therapies to our region for the first time, eliminating the need for patients to travel far from home for care during an already stressful and urgent time.

“It’s important to be able to get care closer to home. Donors can help make that happen,” says Nick.

For more information or to donate, please call 705-876-5000 or click here.

“Where you heal helps determine how you heal.”

A severe mental health crisis led Ashley Webster to seek emergency care at PRHC. There she started to receive the tools she needed to make positive changes in her life. To say thanks for that care and inspire donations in support of other mental health patients, she’s sharing her story…

“Imagine a world that’s always dark, where every step feels heavy. To me, it felt like a never-ending night, where the light just couldn’t break through. When you’ve felt this darkness, you want to do whatever you can to stop someone else from feeling that same isolation.

During my treatment and recovery, my garden became my sanctuary. With the sunshine on my face and my hands in the soil, those difficult days felt a little brighter and easier to handle. But, like recovering from any illness, my journey to healing requires time and space.

Just like cardiologists and surgeons need the right technology to treat our bodies, mental health professionals need the right tools and facilities to treat our minds. That includes spaces that are specially designed for mental health patients: rooms with plenty of natural light, and secure outdoor areas that help patients heal in safety and in peace. Knowing how important my garden was to me during my darkest days, I became a PRHC Foundation donor to make sure others have healing spaces in their treatment for recovery.

Please join me in supporting modern mental health facilities at PRHC and be part of investing in the future of mental health care in our region.”

For more information or to donate, please call 705-876-5000 or click here.

Jennie says thanks for her care by helping ensure others can get the care they need

It was 5:30 p.m. by the time Jennie Ireland got the diagnosis she’d been dreading. Suddenly, she was a 42-year-old single mom with a seven-year-old son, aging parents, and she’d just been diagnosed with breast cancer.

“Looking back, it was an awful time,” Jennie says. On sleepless nights, she worried about what her illness would mean for her son, Liam. Could she take him to hockey practice and help him with his schoolwork? Would she be there to watch him grow up? “But I refused to give up hope,” she says. “And receiving care at PRHC was my lifeline.”

Jennie explains that being able to get care in her community with donor-funded technology meant less worry. Without it, she would have had to travel to Toronto, Oshawa or even Kingston for months on end. “I believe it had a positive impact on my recovery,” she says. “Because I was able to get care close to home, I could focus on what mattered most: Getting better and keeping life as normal as possible for my son.”

Like many people, Jennie was surprised to find out that the government doesn’t fund hospital equipment and that a population of more than 600,000 relies on PRHC for care. This includes people from the city and county of Peterborough, the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, east Durham, and the Haliburton Highlands.

Patients come to PRHC with a wide range of needs, from treatment for cancer, heart attacks and strokes, to surgery or mental health care. They may be seeking treatment in an emergency, or because of a chronic condition. Whatever the reason, Jennie wants to ensure that like her, others can get the care they need, close to home.

“I became a donor, volunteer fundraiser and a PRHC Foundation ambassador to help our hospital upgrade its technology so that more patients like me can get the care they need when they need it most,” says Jennie. “But PRHC can only do it with our help. I’d like everyone who can to join me in donating so doctors, nurses and staff have the best equipment to provide the best care.”

To donate, please call 705-876-5000 or click here.

Jennie Ireland says thanks

If you’ve lived with cancer or supported a loved one through treatment, you know how hard it is. Not only the illness itself, but the treatment, too. Cancer care patient Jennie Ireland explains that that’s why receiving care at Peterborough Regional Health Centre was her lifeline. She says it’s thanks to caring people like you that she’s now cancer-free, because PRHC Foundation donors funded the equipment her doctors used to save her life.

“Being able to get my treatment in my community meant less worry and I believe, had a positive impact on my recovery. Without it, I would have had to travel to Toronto, Oshawa or even Kingston, for months on end,” says Jennie. “So, I’m so thankful to donors for all the ways you’ve supported cancer care at our hospital. Your donations really do make a difference. I know I didn’t realize the full extent, though, until I experienced it firsthand.”

There are many more patients like Jennie. With rising patient volumes, especially in cancer care, our region needs the latest technology to help doctors find and treat complex cases faster and more safely, shorten wait times, and save more lives. That’s why supporting investments in essential areas that support cancer care, like interventional radiology, is crucial. And it’s just one of the areas PRHC is investing in to address this demand.

One of the important upgrades needed as part of PRHC’s $6 million investment in minimally invasive interventional radiology is an advanced, portable ultrasound machine. The latest interventional radiology ultrasound systems provide fast, detailed imaging for the most accurate visualization and advanced needle navigational assistance – critical in finding a safe path to the desired area inside the body without puncturing vessels, bowel or other organs.

At PRHC, interventional radiology ultrasound is used during tumour or organ lesion biopsies and in the placement of port-a-caths and PICC lines – which allow for less obvious, longterm access to chemotherapy, with less risk of infection.

Jennie had a PICC line inserted in an interventional radiology procedure at PRHC as part of her cancer treatment. She says she was terrified, but because it was done locally her mom could come with her. She explains what it meant to her:

“After I was diagnosed with an aggressive, fast-growing tumour that had spread to my lymph nodes, my days were filled with scans, surgeries, and rounds of chemo and radiation. I quickly became familiar with every corner of the hospital – even places I’d never heard of like interventional radiology.

“That’s where they put my PICC line in,” she adds. “This was the ‘port’ that was used to deliver my chemotherapy. It stayed in my arm for months, giving me longterm access to treatment, with less risk of infection. I could shower or even swim with it.”

PICC lines and other similar, implantable devices make life a little easier for patients when it really counts. With advanced new interventional radiology ultrasound technology that has improved image quality for vessel analysis, placement of these devices will be even easier for interventional radiologists – and their patients. The new equipment will also help in procedures where placing drains under image guidance is crucial, such as biliary, gallbladder, kidney and abscess tube insertions.

Jennie says, “It’s all this behind-the-scenes, donor-funded care that makes it possible for our hospital to provide lifesaving treatment – right here in Peterborough – under one roof. I can’t tell you what a relief it was that I could focus solely on my health without the added stress of arranging travel, meals, and lodging. My dad drove me to my appointments. My mom cooked dinner on infusion days when I was at my weakest and dealing with chemo side effects. Most importantly, I didn’t have to disrupt my son’s daily routine.”

Care close to home made a difference for Jennie and her family. She became a donor to the PRHC Foundation to help PRHC upgrade their cancer care technology so that more patients like her can get the care they need, where they need it most. You too can help shape the future of patient care at your hospital. To donate in support of this exciting interventional radiology investment or for more information, call 705-876-5000 or click here.