Donors, board members, staff and interested parties gathered in the PCH cafeteria recently for PCH Foundation’s Annual Meeting. The purpose of this event is to recap the year that was 2010 and to thank those that made it such a successful year for the Prince County Hospital Foundation. The evening’s program was presided over by Foundation Secretary Wayne Carew and it began with Hailey Arsenault, President of Youth Who Care, who recapped a very successful year for their board. Also, Arlene Gallant-Bernard, PCH Executive Director, brought remarks on behalf of PCH and its administration. PCH Auxiliary president Debbie MacLellan brought greetings on behalf of her organization and reminisced on what a great fundraising year they’d had in 2010, donating over $50,000 to the PCH Foundation. The PCH auxiliary reached a new milestone in 2010, a cumulative giving total of between $500,000 and $999,999 since 2000. To commemorate the occasion, a new category was added to the Foundation’s ‘Donor Wall of Honour’ called ‘Humanitarian’ in which they are the first entry.
Prince County Hospital ER Physician Dr. Steven MacNeill was the keynote speaker for the evening, with a theme of ‘thanks.’ He talked about his appreciation for how the community helps to make his job possible. Says Dr. MacNeill, “It’s fantastic to be able to stay at the forefront of our field and use up to date technologies and equipment; to be able to replace failing and old equipment when it’s necessary. I cannot express how valuable (the new equipment) is to us to be able to do our jobs and do them well in order to provide the best care we can to the patients we see.” Dr. MacNeill gave several examples of how just one of the pieces of equipment, the portable ultrasound unit, purchased in 2010 can be used to diagnose patients and often save lives at PCH. It was described by one donor as a “tangible example of how donor dollars are spent to help patients.”
President Bill Thompson had the distinct honour of presenting a symbolic cheque for $970,210 to Dr. Monica McNeill, Chief of Staff (accepting on behalf of PCH). These funds generated by the 2010 campaign efforts supported PCH in replacing priority medical equipment as detailed in the 2010 Vital Signs Campaign. President Thompson also took this opportunity to thank those who made gifts to the hospital in 2010 in the categories within President’s Society.
