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The Prince County Hospital Foundation raised $936,025 during its 2010 “Vital Signs” annual equipment campaign.  “We’ve reached 96% of our 2010 goal.  This is a great success for our Foundation”, says Managing Director Heather Matheson.   “It is the largest amount ever garnered from strictly community donations at the Foundation.  Every pledged donation, memorial gift, or planned legacy gift means a great deal to our campaign, our hospital, and the communities it serves.  We are truly grateful for the interest our communities take in ensuring this hospital is well equipped.” 

“Much like our 2010 slogan said, It Takes a Community to Build a Healthy Tomorrow, and our communities have much to be proud of.  There was a very diverse list of equipment needed in 2010, with items required in nearly every department,” says Bill Thompson, president of the PCH Foundation Board of Directors.   Thompson continues, “While most items replaced equipment that had reached the end of its lifecycle, there were several items on the 2010 list that bring new services to PCH.  Thanks to generous donations, there will be great improvements at PCH including new equipment like the Electromagnetic Navigation System used by ENT specialists in sinus procedures and upgrades to equipment in Emergency and the Maternal Child Care Unit.  The ENT equipment alone has been used several times already and is much appreciated by Ear-Nose-and Throat specialists at PCH.”

In the ER, the addition of a new portable Ultrasound unit will help to ensure the vital and quick diagnosis to many trauma cases in the Emergency unit.  The ER sees an average of 30,000 patients annually.  According to ER physician Dr. Steven MacNeill, “The portable ultrasound is the stethoscope of the 21st century.”  He elaborates that “… with it ER physicians are able to extend their physical exam and investigative skills into the body visually.  At PCH this technology is being used on a daily basis to help assess for potentially life threatening conditions immediately at the bedside, allowing faster diagnosis and safer discharge of patients.” As former patient Gary Naylor of Victoria West will attest, it is a vital piece of equipment that helped to save his life on not one, but two occasions.

Looking forward to 2011 …

The Foundation will announce the 2011 goal and equipment highlights in the near future.  Equipment requirements continue as some items reach the end of their life cycle, new technologies are created, and departments continue to see growing patient numbers.  One category of interest on the 2011 list will be the addition of a Hemo-Dialysis Unit to the Prince County Hospital.  The construction of the unit is set to begin this spring according to the PEI government, and equipment needs for this unit alone will make up a large part of the PCH Foundation’s 2011 Vital Signs Annual Equipment Campaign.

“Medical needs are continual.  Without the support of the generous people throughout our communities, we would not be able to provide PCH with the priority medical equipment its patients need,” said Matheson.