“We are so lucky.” That was the sentiment Laura Lee Delaney expressed to another patient while waiting in the Emergency Department at PCH. “We’re lucky we have this place here (PCH). We could have had to drive to Charlottetown or leave the province.” Laura Lee was sitting with her daughter Payton during one of the many visits they had made to Prince County Hospital over the past few years. Payton had been experiencing abdominal pain since a very young age. It went undiagnosed for a long time, until she could truly communicate what her issues were.
Through a battery of testing, various admissions to the Maternal Child Care Unit and consultations with local paediatrician Dr. Al Gandy, it has been determined that Payton has been suffering from chronic pancreatic attacks and also has celiac disease. This April, Payton underwent a surgery to relieve her pain and is currently in recuperation and progressing very well. Laura Lee said of Payton’s care, “The nurses have been fantastic, Environmental Services keep this place impeccable and Nutrition Services has been bending over backwards to meet Payton’s needs. I can’t brag enough about Prince County Hospital and everything in it. We are very lucky to have it,” says Laura Lee. Payton echoed her mother’s words, “The doctors and nurses are really nice to me and mommy.”
Heather Matheson, PCH Foundation’s managing director remarked, “It’s the donations made every day to the PCH Foundation that enables our care givers to help our friends and families, like Payton. It is our communities that put the essential tools in the hands of those who can help. A gift today can save a life tomorrow.”
The PCH Foundation has launched their Vital Signs Appeal for PCH’s greatest needs in 2016 with a goal of $887,800 for medical equipment. Items ranging from large and complex like the Portable Fluoroscopy unit needed in Diagnostic Imaging ($230,000) to basic needs like beds needed in various departments ($157,600) make up the 2016 greatest needs list. A complete list of equipment is available at pchcare.com.
To help the PCH Foundation provide much needed medical equipment this year, visit the Foundation office in the lobby at PCH, give securely online at pchcare.com or call (902) 432-2547. If you have not already received one, donor packages for the Vital Signs Greatest Needs Appeal can be mailed upon request.
PHOTO 1 : Laura Lee Delaney talks about the care her daughter Payton has received at PCH recently.
PHOTO 2: Maureen Burton, PCW, left and Rachel Burton, LPN (no relation) from Medical-Palliative Unit displaying beds in their unit – some of which will be replaced this year.
