Hospital Auxiliary fundraising bears technological fruit for QVH

Members of the Hospital Auxiliary were taken on a tour of Queen Victoria Hospital last Tuesday to see how the institution has put their fundraising efforts to use.

QVH Manager Julie Lowes said the Hospital Auxiliary’s fund raising ensures that the hospital can acquire up-to-date equipment that it might not, as a small hospital, otherwise have access to through the Interior Health Authority’s capital planning process.

“As you can imagine, the extensive sites that Interior Health covers, limited capital dollars and the subsequent long lists of requests from sites means we all have to prioritize our requests so that each site gets the essential items it needs,” she said. “The Auxiliary then helps us go that step further in purchasing equipment to complement and enhance the care/service to our patients.”

QVH provides the Auxiliary with a Wish List that it reviews and then decides what it can find money for. The Auxiliary also approves smaller items for Mt Cartier Court, such as activities items, blanket warmers, leather recliners and over-bed tables.

How has the hospital put the Auxiliary’s funding to use? Here’s a list of the latest purchases:

  1. Rehabiliation – High-Lo Beds – $3,074 each – 2 were purchased
  2. Radiography – Single Plate Reader & CR Console – $63,710
  3. OR  – Head lamp with light souce – $4,023
  4. OR –  Portable Opthalmascope – $895
  5. OR – Arthroscopy Instruments – $29,865
  6. Maternity – Infant Warmer System – $46,740
  7. OR – Video Colonoscope – $54,720
  8. ER – Slit Lamp – $19,096

The images below will give you a visual idea of the Auxiliary’s fruitful efforts:

Wiiii! Doris Folken, a physiotherapist with the QVH rehabilitation department, demonstrates the Wii that was recently purchased for the department. It's more than just a game as it demands that users physically exert themselves. David F. Rooney photo
Rubyanne Meda describes how the Wii benefits physiotherapy patients. David F. Rooney photo
Walkers such as this have also been purchased for the department with funding from the Hospital Auxiliary. Over the last 14 years the department has benefitted from about $70,000 in Auxiliary funding. David F. Rooney photo
Tilt beds such as the one Rubyanne is kneeling on are a vast improvement over the old wooden ones, like the one she is pointing at. Auxiliary funding purchased two of the new beds, which cost $3,074 each. David F. Rooney photo
Radiology Technologist Heather Jay describes the benefits of the new diagnostic imaging equipment purchased with Auxiliary funds. Their high-definition imaging "helps us do our jobs better," she says. David F. Rooney photo
Nursing Coordinator Deena Crane tells Auxiliary members how this $4,023 headlamp is used by physicians. David F. Rooney photo
Here, Deena Crane describes how this $19,096 slit lamp is used in the Emergency Department. David F. Rooney photo
Deena Crane describes the ways this $54,720 video colonoscope is used to get an inside view of patients. David F. Rooney photo
These obsolete devices will be examined by Interior Health's biomedical specialists and may eventually be sent to hospitals in the developing world. David F. Rooney photo