As Vancouver Coastal Health’s Sechelt Hospital prepares to deliver the last baby of 2023, (151 and counting!), the wrappers have just come off five new “Panda” warmers, a “Giraffe” incubator and six neonatal heart monitors for each room in the maternity department.
This life-saving equipment allows nurses and doctors to better receive neonatal infants, assess and monitor key health markers after arrival, and better support infants (and their families) who may need immediate transportation to the next level of care off-Coast.
The new equipment replaces older models and adds additional units to increase the hospital’s capacity to serve a growing population of young families. Donors contributed more than $350,000 to purchase this best-in-class new equipment.
As Kaylee Kuhn, a maternity nurse at Vancouver Coastal Health’s Sechelt Hospital explained, “This is definitely top-of-the-line equipment we have in Sechelt and it’s already helped saved lives and helped us in our daily work.”
As a fundraiser for the maternity department, Chad Joe, president of Westcoast Mining, has hosted nine Comedy on the Coast shows, an annual event that brings some of the best stand-up comedians to Sechelt.
“Ever since my son was born at Sechelt Hospital,” said Joe, “I recognized the need to support pediatric care and help contribute to new equipment here. Through Comedy on the Coast and other supporters in our community, we have all been able to make our maternity department a state-of-the-art facility and should be extremely proud of what we have accomplished. I am grateful that I can do this work and look forward to hosting everyone in September 2024.”
For another anonymous local donor, all three generations of their family have been born at Sechelt Hospital, so a major gift was recently given to the maternity ward to provide a lasting legacy for future generations.
“Having both our daughter and now granddaughter born in Sechelt with terrific care from the nursing team, we felt inspired to assist both the team and future coasters with our donation to the maternity unit,” they said.
Sechelt Hospital Foundation believes that the best medicine is local, and investing in our future generations is one of the best gifts you can give. If you would like to make a donation to the area of greatest need or learn more about Sechelt Hospital Foundation’s future projects, please visit www.sechelthospitalfoundation.org or e-mail [email protected].
