The new drive for campaign donations at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital (KBRH) has received a ground swell of support from A.M. Ford Trail.
The dealerships’s $19,300 donation to the KBRH Health Foundation’s Ambulatory Care Campaign will be used for an examination and consultation room in the ambulatory care general clinic. This legacy room is located in the existing ambulatory care unit, which will be completely renovated once the new procedures unit opens on the second floor of the hospital’s new wing.
Dan Ashman, principal dealer at A.M. Ford, has been a long-time supporter of local causes, especially hospital and health-related initiatives. So this latest contribution is just one in a long list of financial gifts going back decades.
Why does he do it? What compels Ashman to commit such an extraordinary amount of money to the hospital?
“Access to quality health care is important to each of us,” Ashman began. “My passion and commitment to continually support health care initiatives through the KBRH Health Foundation is in my DNA and in this company, A.M. Ford.”
A.M. Ford’s donation to the Ambulatory Care Campaign is supplementary to multiple campaigns the Trail business has supported including: $25,000 donated to the mobile MRI; a $10,000 contribution to the KBRH helicopter pad; and other life-saving initiatives such as providing 50 per cent of the funding to A.M. Ford’s defibrillator campaign which put defibrillators in all Kootenay Boundary arenas.
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A.M. Ford’s commitment to the KBRH Health Foundation has now reached $92,000 — and they aren’t stopping there.
Ashman says the company is anticipating raising over $100,000 in 2022.
“Without all businesses in the Kootenay Boundary supporting our regional hospital, citizens would have to pay more money in accommodations and travel, plus the inconvenience for families, to go to other areas for medical attention,” he said.
With this in mind, A.M. Ford is challenging all Kootenay Boundary businesses, and in particular automotive dealerships, to show their financial support for the long-term protection and well being of Kootenay Boundary families.
“Please be generous and if you have saved a little money during the pandemic as a private individual in the last year, I would encourage you to donate to this life-saving campaign,” said Ashman.
Ambulatory Care Campaign 2021
KBRH Health Foundation is now undertaking the two-year $750,000 Ambulatory Care Campaign to support the $38.8 million Phase 2 Pharmacy/Ambulatory Care Project at KBRH. This project will see extensive renovations to ambulatory care and oncology, including moving day surgery procedures into the newly expanded space above the Emergency Department.
Much of the equipment within the current ambulatory care departments are approaching their end of life. Maintaining advanced medical equipment is vital to ensuring patient safety and care, the foundation states.
“The department expansions and state-of-the-art medical equipment purchased will increase the capacity to provide patient services at KBRH.”
Phase 2 upgrades will improve multiple departments at KBRH including pharmacy, ambulatory care unit, oncology, physiotherapy, cast clinic and medical records.
Scheduled completion is March 2023.
Expansion of KBRH services
The KBRH Ambulatory Care Unit is responsible for providing medical and specialty day surgery services to patients throughout the Kootenay Boundary. Day surgery procedures currently provided include: urology clinic, minor general surgeries, orthopedic and plastic surgeries, endoscopy, women’s clinic, phlebotomies, central line catheters, and bone marrow procedures.
With the expanded Ambulatory Care Unit, patients will be efficiently streamlined into improved procedure rooms and recovery areas that increase patient safety and privacy. For example, the patient care areas will include private examination rooms with ceiling lifts to move patients in a safer manner, a telehealth conference room for patients to discuss their care plan, a separate decontamination room with an hydraulic sink and pass through, a new clean room and scope storage area, and a front desk area to greet and register patients.
The Oncology Unit at KBRH provides specialty medical care for individuals receiving infusion therapy and treatment for cancer.
The expansion of this unit will provide a much needed waiting room for patients and their loved ones. The current Oncology Unit requires patients to wait in the hallway for their treatments. In addition to a new waiting room, two new treatment rooms will increase privacy for patients. Currently, curtains separate patient beds which limits privacy and increases noise.
The six treatment chairs will also have more space between them to enhance patient comfort during treatment.
Physicians and care staff will greatly benefit from the expanded space. The Oncology Unit will have permanent workstations for nurses, replacing the current mobile and shared workstation. The department will increase their capacity to deliver services to patients through the provision of two new physician treatment rooms and a dedicated nursing room for medication preparation and equipment storage.
The Ambulatory Care Campaign supports the second phase of a major expansion at KBRH and will serve residents of the region for years to come.
For more information contact Lisa Pasin, executive director, KBRH Health Foundation, at 250.250.364.3424 or email: lisa.pasin@interiorhealth.ca.
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