Kids’ hospital gets $1M donation boost

A Prince Albert philanthropist has made a $1-million donation to the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital to help ensure parents can be close to their sick infants.

Malcolm Jenkins, who owns a Canadian Tire in Prince Albert, made the contribution in the name of his late mother Lilian Jane Jenkins. The money will be used to support the Family Room in the massive hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

“Family and community are what Saskatchewan is all about,” Jenkins said in a news release issued by the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation on Wednesday. “You can’t take it with you so it’s important to contribute back where you can.”

The NICU, located on the hospital’s fourth floor, will house 48 beds for premature or critically ill babies, providing families with private rooms and dedicated spaces like the family room.

Brynn Boback-Lane, president and CEO of the hospital foundation, thanked Jenkins on behalf of “our youngest and most vulnerable babies and their families,” for providing a comfortable “home-awayfrom-home

Family and community are what Saskatchewan is all about … it’s important to contribute back where you can.

environment” during what can be an extremely stressful situation. “This exceptional gift will create a true family-focused space that will be key to the emotional well-being of Saskatchewan families in hospital,” Boback-Lane noted in the release.

The hospital, which is a $285.2-million project, is set to open in late 2019. Construction on the project is more than 86 per cent complete. The foundation’s capital campaign has raised $61 million toward a goal of at least $75 million.