Stephanie Douglas/Staff Writer
The Pender Harbour community has a lot to be proud of after making the final payment of $350,000 on the Pender Harbour and District Health Centre's mortgage on Dec. 31, about five years ahead of schedule.
As one of two health centres in the province owned by the community, the Pender Harbour health centre is run by a society. Current board chair Evelyn McNee, together with past board chair Eric Dodd, said by paying off the mortgage early, the monthly $7,800 payments they were making can now go into different programs and services the centre wouldn't otherwise be able to offer for many years to come.
Board member Doug Davis said with the last expansion the centre has some room to grow and at present is already offering a number of services that make the health centre a "one-stop-shopping," health service to the community.
Available at the centre are doctors, a dentist, physiotherapists and two psychiatrists. Some of the other services offered at the centre are laboratory services (through appointment), an ambulatory care program with services such as blood pressure and blood sugar testing, suture removal and injury and illness assessment. The health centre also offers a diabetes educational program and nutrition counselling. Davis and both present and past board chairs said the next important step is finding out what the community needs, what the community wants and what will the society and the health centre be able to provide. During 2008, they will focus on finding a diverse range of ways to tap into the community at all levels, from youth to seniors and from young single parents to families and what they see needs to be done for health care.
Davis pointed out this is very much a community owned centre because the whole community worked so hard to raise the money to pay off the mortgage, either by volunteering their time at events or by buying the tickets to those events. Therefore, the community needs to have a strong voice in determining its needs and how these needs can best be met, Davis added.
McNee said until the board is able to canvass the community, she is reluctant to put forward a list of possible upcoming programs and services. However, the board does have a tentative wish list, provided the list and the community's needs coincide. They would like to have a rheumatologist at the centre, provide some foot care, expand current programs like the diabetes care program and, ideally, they would like to have a broad range of specialists coming to the centre to offer their services, even if only on a monthly basis.
The It's Ours Campaign raising $350,000 in roughly eight months was so successful, said chair of the campaign and auxiliary member Marlayne Williams, because the committee was small, only five people, who took on the challenge with joy and a sense of fun and laughter and because the whole community pitched in to support the campaign. All the fundraising events were well attended or sold out, said Williams. Another vital contribution came from the centre's auxiliary, said auxiliary president Janet Thomas. Through the Bargain Barn, a secondhand store run entirely by volunteers, they were able to make two large cash donations totalling $55,000. "It took about 5,000 hours of volunteer time for the Bargain Barn to be open 15 hours per week. That time was spent in sales, sorting, tagging, distribution and merchandising," added Thomas.
Dubbed "the little centre that could," board members, auxiliary members and the campaign members say the Pender Harbour and District Health Centre is really a testament to the collective power of individuals wanting the best for themselves and their community as a whole and having the vision and the drive to make that vision a reality. To find out more about the Pender Harbour Health Centre, check out their website at www.penderharbourhealth.com.
