Fund training lab
O’Leary Community Health Foundation backs lobby for services with funds
Some big- ticket purchases on the O’Leary Community Health Foundation’s horizon, include $ 60,000 for the chemical analyzer and another $ 60,000 to set up a training lab in the hospital.
“Many times when staff come here, I’m told a lot of times, they can’t keep their qualifications up if they don’t do a certain amount of procedures and tests,” said foundation chairwoman, Eva Rodgerson, at the annual meeting earlier this week.
“We’re excited to offer that service. We’re hoping that will help to keep young people in the area where they can keep their skills up.”
Although he is no longer minister of Health, O’Leary- Inverness MLA Robert Henderson promised he will make it his mission to deliver on O’Leary’s request for an ambulatory care nurse. The nursing position was a request that was discussed during last year’s annual meeting when Henderson was Health minister.
His successor, Robert Mitchell, told foundation members he continues to work on that request and indicated he hopes to be able to deliver soon.
Mitchell said the chemical analyzer the foundation wants is on his department’s radar. Rodgerson pointed out her group already has the money to cover the new equipment. The foundation’s financial report showed the organization spent $ 53,194 on equipment for the hospital last year, and $ 350,000 over the past two years. It shows cash receipts for the year of $ 110,984, with fundraising and donations bringing in over $ 57,000 and income from nearly $ 1.2 million in investments totalling almost $ 45,000.
Cash disbursements totalled $ 73,923.
“It’s quite an accomplishment for a small organization in O’Leary,” the foundation’s treasurer, Kevin MacLeod, observed, extending acknowledgements to everyone who supports the foundation’s efforts.
Last year’s expansion of telehealth services at the hospital, Mitchell said, would not have been possible without the foundation’s contribution.
“You’re doing a tremendous amount of work to support the health and well- being of your citizens,” he said.
Paul Young, administrator of Community Hospitals West, said feedback delivered during the hospital’s accreditation survey, described O’Leary Community
Hospital’s palliative care service as “second- to- none.”
Young reported that P. E. I. is a national leader for patient and family- centred care and the Canadian Foundation for Health Care Improvement recently showcased Community Hospital’s leadership in that field, allowing a flexible pet presence policy, and providing shower and laundry services for partners in care. Rodgerson said the foundation’s 11- member board keeps its ear to the ground, ready to respond to equipment purchase needs and to lobby for services for the hospital and long- term care facility. She said they are wanting to have reproductive support services for families added at the hospital.
Transportation for seniors needing to go to medical or dental appointments needs more attention, and wait times for long- term care is still too long, Rodgerson observed.
Mitchell reported the province employed a short- term solution to the physiotherapist shortage in West Prince by creating its first- ever private contract for physiotherapy.
He indicated a sponsorship program has also been developed to help attract physiotherapists, and two have been hired for the region and are scheduled to start in the fall.