Creation of the Friends of the Golden and District Hospital

Submitted by Keith W Hern

When Frances and I returned from our vacation in June we read that the Golden Hospital was fundraising for a Transportation Ventilator and decided that we would like to help. Preliminary discussions with the hospital staff in July indicated that they had applied for a grant to cover the outstanding balance, the result of which would be known by the 3^rd week of August. The grant application was successful and the acquisition of the Transportation Ventilator is now fully funded.

It became apparent during our discussions that the Golden Hospital and Durand Manor had a sizable list of small equipment needs over and above their annual budget for which funding is not easily nor readily found. The list comprises of 18 pieces of equipment, individually each under $5000, totaling $36,000.

Shortly thereafter on September 4^th Frances passed away. In the days following, the family decided it would be a fitting tribute to the memory of Frances to raise funds so that the hospital could acquire this list of equipment.

There are many families in our situation of wanting to thank the hospital staff for one reason or another and that there should be a group formed to provide ongoing help to the hospital in a tangible way. We have been joined in this cause by the Dusevic family, the Oddy family, the Ross family, the Cundliffe/Peacock family and the Lindsay/Matheson family. Each have their own story to tell and reasons for giving thanks to the Golden and District Hospital.

This group, the Friends of the Golden & District Hospital, has now been endorsed by the East Kootenay Foundation for Health and has been given approval to move forward with a crowd-funding project in support of the EKFH through CanadaHelps.org. 

Donna Grainger, Executive Director, EKFH is thrilled. “Your choice of selecting to fundraise for a number of minor equipment items for the Golden& District Hospital and Durand Manor is truly appreciated. These items truly do make a big difference and have a huge impact on the equipment needs of a small rural hospital. The leadership team at the Golden Hospital is ecstatic with your decision”.

We are currently working to set up the crowd funding page on the CanadaHelps.org platform, “Giving Thanks to the Golden & District Hospital” which we anticipate will be open for donations from October 6^th to October 11^th 2015. This will coincide with the Celebration of Life being held for Frances at the Island Restaurant on October 10^th.