Vernon Jubilee Hospital’s McMurtry-Baerg Cancer Centre needs more room.
The VJH Foundation is stepping in to help.
The foundation has undertaken a campaign to raise $500,000 towards renovations for the centre.
The cancer centre opened in 1998 when VJH embarked on a new path in cancer treatment. Back then, 1,600 patients visited the centre.
“Today, the centre sees more than 3,500 patients, more than double the people in a space that was designed to accommodate half the number of patients,” said Dr. Ed Hardy, VJH oncologist.
Cancer centre staff looked at their current and future needs, and developed a plan to upgrade the existing centre, then turned to the foundation to help raise funds.
The plan includes an expansion to intensive care and cardiac care space made available as a result of the new Polson Tower opening, and to renovate existing space resulting in more patient privacy, additional treatment areas and sufficient examination rooms for the doctors’ clinics.
The foundation, so far, through individual donations and bequests, has raised nearly $300,000 for the renovations.
“So we’re looking for approximately $200,000. That will cover everything,” said Sue Beaudry, the foundation’s director of development. “The whole cost is being supported by foundation dollars. There isn’t any money anywhere else to cover the costs of renovations.”
For more information on the project, or to make a donation, visit www.vjhfoundation.org or call the foundation office 250-558-1362.
