Hospitals’ lottery not affected by merger of health regions
As the Saskatchewan shifts away from 12 separate health regions into a single health authority this fall, the Hospitals of Regina Foundation says its home lotteries will not be affected by the change.
“The hospital foundations in Saskatchewan will continue to raise money for their specific hospitals,” said Dino Sophocleous, president and CEO of the Regina foundation. “And our foundation will certainly continue to do that for (the) three hospitals in Regina.”
The money raised through the biannual home lotteries goes toward equipment and technology for the Pasqua Hospital, Regina General Hospital and the Wascana Rehabilitation Centre.
This year marks the HRF and its home lottery’s 30th anniversary and the foundation has committed $3 million as part of its Trauma Care Campaign. GMS has partnered with the HRF and is matching donations up to $1 million.
Up for grabs this fall, is a $1.1-million, 3,400-square-foot grand prize show home located in the Creeks plus $10,000 cash as well as an early bird prize cottage on Katepwa Lake worth $630,000 plus $5,000 cash.
Sophocleous said that while the houses are beautiful and the money plentiful, what the lotteries are really about is people.
“It means the best health care possible. Simply put it means that we will be able to take care of people and make their lives better and send them back to their families after a traumatic experience,” said Sophocleous.
David McCutcheon, vice-president of physician and integrated health services for the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region, said while the hospitals receive some grants from the provincial government, the money raised through home lotteries allows them to focus in on what the hospitals’ needs are and meet those needs in a timely manner.
“It’s extremely important because it saves lives, but it’s also very important because it gives the community a sense of security that they have the best possible treatments available to them,” said McCutcheon.
He said everything from ultrasound machines in the emergency room, individual and central monitoring equipment, anesthesia machines and more are priorities for the region.
He said trauma care doesn’t stop in the emergency room, but follows a trauma patient through all stages of their stay in the hospital. Generally, a trauma patient enters the emergency room, will go on to have surgery in the operating room and then end up in recovery in critical care or similar department.
“So we kind of map the patient’s journey and from that mapped journey we then identify what the biggest needs are,” said McCutcheon.
To decide what equipment and technology is a priority in the hospitals, McCutcheon said every department submits an annual report detailing what equipment is aging and what new technology is needed. That information is compiled, priorities are set depending on urgency and funds are allocating accordingly.
“It’s one thing to have the doctors and nurses. It’s another for them to have the equipment and the technology they need to deliver the health care,” said Sophocleous. “I would say that without us, you wouldn’t see half the equipment and technology that you see today in the hospitals here in Regina.”
Viewing of the grand prize show home begins Saturday.