The South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation is launching the seventh annual Tree of Dreams Campaign.
The focus of this year’s campaign is on essential pieces of medical equipment for Penticton Regional Hospital. The list of items urgently needed is lengthy, including:
o Bronchoscope ($30,000), used to diagnose diseases of the lungs
o Rapid Fuser, ($30,000) fluid management system for major trauma surgery
o Ear Nose and Throat Navigation System, for more accuracy and less invasive sinus surgery ($120,000)
o Seven Adjustable Renal Dialysis Treatment Chairs, ($5,000 each)
Ten Stretchers ($5,800), adjustable and more comfortable
o Two Cardiac Defibrillators, Emergency department, for patients in cardiac arrest ($58,000)
o Hypo/Hyperthermia Unit, ICU department for patients after suffering a cardiac arrest ($30,000)
o Ultrasound Probe ($30,000), to assess nerve involvement during surgery
o Sentinel Node Probe ($50,000), breast cancer lymph node dissection which relieves the trauma and complications associated with surgery
Organizers say these pieces of equipment are critical and they must raise $632,500 by April.
Some significant donations have already come in.
These include $145,000 from the Summerland Healthcare Auxiliary, $10,000 from the Penticton Hospital Foundation and $15,000 from the South Okanagan Health Care Auxiliary.
The money from the Summerland Healthcare Auxiliary will go for a new operating room table and lights at the Summerland Health Centre.
Jane Drapeau, chair of the medical foundation, said the donations received so far are almost a quarter of the total needed.
Executive director Janice Perrino said the medical foundation’s goal is always to make sure that the Penticton Regional Hospital and all of our health care facilities have the best medical equipment available for the residents over the entire region.
For more information or to make a donation, please visit the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation at the Penticton Regional Hospital, or mail your donation in to 550 Carmi Ave., Penticton, V2A 3G6 or call 250-492-9027 or toll free at 1-866-771-0994.