HOME SWEET HOME
Grand prize winners Garth Robson and his partner, Bev Crossman, check out the elegant entryway of the home they won in the Hospitals of Regina Foundation home lottery. The Craven-area couple has been buying tickets since the lottery began.
It was an emotional day for two home lottery winners who have a special connection to the Hospitals of Regina Foundation’s focus on imaging technology this year.
“This week our grandson had an injury, so he needed to have an image of his leg taken,” Bev Crossman said as she fought back tears.
“He’s good because they were able to get a better image and agree that it wasn’t a serious injury, but it took a week before that image was available.”
Crossman and her husband Garth Robson won the $1.1-million grand prize show home, as well as $30,000 cash.
They’ve been supporting the foundation’s home lottery since its inception and are glad to see this year’s investment going towards imaging needs for Regina’s hospitals.
“It affects everyone,” Robson said during a media event at their new house on Friday morning. “Who hasn’t been in for an X-ray? I know I’ve had MRIS done and the more accurate pictures they get, the better it is for the patients.”
This year, the home lottery raised more than $1.5 million, and the foundation is investing about $3.6 million in imaging technology, including a refurbished MRI, a new CT scanner, two ultrasound machines and a new interventional radiology suite.
It’s technology the Kosloski family hopes will help them get through a difficult time.
“About three months ago, I got diagnosed with cancer,” said Rick Kosloski. “All this stuff that they ’re putting in hospitals and stuff, it sure helps to get us through.”
A bright light during a dark time, Rick and his wife Laurie are the lucky of the home lottery’s Katepwa lakeview cottage, pontoon boat and $5,000 cash. They said it couldn’t have come at a better time.
“We’ve supported for probably 20 years and it didn’t matter if we won anything or not ... because you know it’s for a good cause,” said Laurie. “Never ever would expect this to happen to us. It’s just unbelievable.”
She said the win is kind of overwhelming, but they are already imagining Christmas at the lake with their two kids. The family currently lives in Lipton, which is about 10 minutes outside Fort Qu’appelle.
As for Crossman and Robson, who live on an acreage just outside Craven, they have a difficult decision to make.
“We toured the house earlier this summer, so we had a pretty good idea of what it was like,” said Robson. “Now we have to decide which place we’re going to stay at. It’s a big decision.”
President and CEO of the Hospitals of Regina Foundation Dino Sophocleous thanked the people of southern Saskatchewan for helping make investments in health care possible.
“Good health care is local,” he said. “We want to make sure the hospitals have the best technology available to us and that they can deliver the best health care possible.”
According to the foundation, Regina hospitals performed more than 50,000 CT scans, 17,000 MRIS and more than 24,000 ultrasounds last year.
“Imaging touches everything that we do in the hospitals every year,” said Sophocleous.
David Chernoff of Regina took home the 50/50 add-on. Unable to attend the event, his wife accepted the $359,350 cheque on his behalf.
The rest of the winners will be notified in writing and a complete list of winners will be published at hrfhomelottery.com on Nov. 22.