Tofino General Hospital Foundation (TGHF) is raising funds to purchase wall-mounted vital monitors, make upgrades to the aging trauma room and to create a new family quiet room.
Anyone interested in making a direct cash contribution is encouraged to contact the TGHF chair Arlene McGinnis at 250-726-6166.
“The hospital has been overwhelmed this year. We must keep it in good standing. We must keep it as well equipped as we can,” said McGinnis.
“Hopefully none of us need to use it, but it certainly has been extremely well-used by, I think, mostly people from out-of-town. The doctors and nurses are worked off their feet. They need the best place to work in that they can have,” she said.
McGinnis told the Westerly the family quiet room would be an entirely new space for patients or families in crisis.
“We don’t have approval yet, but it’s being worked on. The scope has yet to be defined and it would include renovations and new furnishings,” she said.
With the help of Kimberly Johnston and Cam Dennison, the foundation has pivoted from the high-spirited silent auction soiree at Shelter to an online auction fundraiser.
“There are a variety of items [people can bid on]. We don’t have a huge pile, but we decided the best way to go about it was to put out a limited amount of items we had leftover from our April event that didn’t happen,” McGinnis said.
“Major items are three Roy Henry Vickers original paintings called ‘Portal to the Past.’ They are very attractive paintings. They are valued at $25,000 each.”
Hosted by Tuff City Radio, auction items can be viewed by visiting ‘The Tofino General Hospital Foundation Fundraiser - online auction’ on Facebook. Bids will be accepted from now until Sept. 25 at 6 p.m. On the last day of the auction, there will also be a live auction (from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.) of a special reveal prize.
nora.omalley@westerlynews.ca
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