Ambulatory Care Unit
The Foundation works on an ongoing basis with Vancouver Coastal Health and Sechelt Hospital medical staff and administrators to identify equipment and special project needs not covered by the annual provincial or regional health budgets.
The most recent priority was to assist with the complete overhaul of the South wing of the original hospital to create a beautiful, modern and well equipped Ambulatory Care Unit.
The Foundation invested $1,115,000 in the equipment and furnishings required for the Ambulatory Care Unit and future 13-room patient care unit. The ACU opened at the end of January and has met with extremely positive reviews from patients and staff. It is a best in class facility which will vastly improve the experience of chemotherapy patients, haemodialysis patients, those seeking medical daycare and visiting specialists’ clinics. Expanded services also mean Sunshine Coast residents will not have to travel to the city for medical care as frequently. The new ACU also allows staff to better service visitors through a unique design which includes glass walls, private medical procedure rooms and shared nurses’ stations.
Gibsons Public Health
Another Foundation investment in local health care was unveiled in January of 2018 with the opening of the new Gibsons Public Health facility on Gibsons Way. The centre includes a first for the Sunshine Coast – an audiology booth to test children’s hearing.
Funding for the audiology booth came from the Foundation and also with a dedicated donation from Comedy on the Coast’s sold-out stand up show in the fall.
Beyond audiology, you can now access a variety of public health services in the new space which is more conducive to patient care and public accessibility as it is on the main Gibsons artery with parking right in front.
Located across the street from Elphinstone High School, the centre offers Youth Clinics focussing on public health, dental health and sexual health.
The new facility also provides you access to home care nurses, community health workers, volunteer programs, case management, rehabilitation including occupational therapy and physical therapy, allied teams of dietitians and social workers, acquired brain injury programs, chronic disease management, home supports and community living, palliative care workers, public health nurses, sensory screening, immunization clinics, communicable disease workers, a needle exchange, speech language pathology and population health.
A Productive Partnership Put to Use
Starting September 2018, Sechelt Hospital will be treating its first patients in the brand new, state of the art ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) machine, thanks to a local doctor and the grateful family of a former patient. At the moment, most people requiring ECT make repeated trips to and from Vancouver, often having to pay for hotel rooms as they receive treatment which is not available here on the Sunshine Coast. ECT is often scheduled prior to the Operating Room (OR) schedule which means you must be on-site very early in the morning, thereby necessitating repeated hotel nights.
Kathleen Archibald received palliative care at Sechelt Hospital and, after her passing, son Andrew approached his friend, ophthalmologist Dr. Brian Nelson, to ask about purchasing something that would be immediately useful and make an impact for patients on the coast. Nelson had heard, at physician meetings, about the pressure on inpatient care due to the unavailability of ECT. That led, very quickly, to the generous combined gift of $17,500 from the Barnes family and Dr. Nelson, in memory of Kathleen Archibald.
Sechelt Hospital Foundation is committed to supporting the redevelopment of a facility for Mental Health and Substance Use Services for the Sunshine Coast.
Supporting Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment on the Coast
Seeing an undocumented need, the Foundation commissioned a comprehensive review of the Sunshine Coast’s mental health and addiction needs and experiences. The report, funded by generous donors, was completed in early 2017 and makes numerous recommendations including a shared vision for a new facility, with enhanced services on the Coast in the future. To support the Mental Health Vocational Rehabilitation Team, the Foundation funded the replacement of a tired and well-used work van to help service job sites where lives and landscapes are transformed.
Audiology Booth
Gibsons Health Unit gets audiology booth. Special thanks to Chad Joe and all supporters of Westcoast Mining’s “Comedy on the Coast” for providing funds for the Sunshine Coast’s first Audiology Booth for early childhood screening.
‘Back the CAT’
In 2006, the Foundation’s Board of Directors embarked on a major fundraising campaign to purchase and install a CT Scanner at Sechelt Hospital. Under the direction of the Fund Development Committee of the Board, the Dr. Walter Burtnick Memorial Fundraising campaign was created, with its slogan ‘Back the CAT’.
Sechelt Hospital Foundation along with its major partner, the Sechelt Hospital / Healthcare Auxiliary, surpassed its goal by raising more than $2.7 million in sixteen months. Today, Sunshine Coast residents receive CT scans at home in the new hospital facility developed to house the equipment.
Hospital Auxiliary
Through the years, Sechelt Hospital Foundation and Sunshine Coast Health care Auxiliary have partnered on major fundraising projects, including the ‘Back the Cat’, and ‘Gettin’ Equipt’ campaigns. As separate organizations and together, we continue to support health care on the Sunshine Coast – the Foundation for Sechelt Hospital, and the Auxiliary for Sechelt Hospital as well as for Shorncliffe and Totem Lodge.
We work together, celebrate together, and look forward to the next project together!
