We hope you enjoy the seventh issue of QEII Times. We are proud to continue to share stories of care at the QEII Health Sciences Centre, including new and innovative technology, research programs that are changing and saving lives, and the phenomenal people who devote their careers to caring for others. We are also grateful to the advertisers of QEII Times who help fund the printing of this publication.
The QEII Foundation is surrounded by a community of donors. Often, donors have a particular area of care, piece of equipment, or health program they are inspired to support. But in many cases, patients and families are motivated to support the area of greatest need and they leave it to the QEII Foundation to direct their gift where needed.
This type of giving is essential to the Foundation being able to ensure the best equipment is available when you or your loved ones need it most.
The health centre, through a rigorous process, determines the equipment that needs to be replaced or updated. These are called patient care equipment priorities, and this process usually happens on a yearly basis; or immediately if a situation arises with a piece of equipment that needs immediate attention.
The Department of Health and Wellness commits to 75 per cent of funding required for patient care equipment priorities; the remaining 25 per cent is funded by the QEII Foundation. This is the same process across the province of Nova Scotia - hospital foundations fund 25 per cent of patient care equipment priorities at their local hospital.
This arrangement between hospital foundations and the Department of Health of Wellness has been in place for quite some time. This means that generous Nova Scotians have helped fund many pieces of equipment at their local hospital. Perhaps they themselves were treated with a piece of equipment they helped fund. Or perhaps a loved one benefited from that treatment.
Last year alone, the QEII Foundation provided, through the strength of philanthropy, over $11.3-million to advance care at the QEII Health Sciences Centre. These funds will have a significant impact on areas and treatments like neuroscience, outpatient care, aquatic therapy for rehabilitation patients, MRI, core laboratory, and cancer care, to name a few.
In addition, critical patient care equipment was improved, thanks to the generosity from donors. Equipment like patient monitoring systems, which relay vital patient information such as heart rate and blood pressure to the healthcare team; new surgical equipment that is highly adaptable for various surgical procedures; technology for operating rooms and care teams during procedures; and anesthesia machines that administer medication and monitor the patient during surgery.
These are only a few examples of the critical equipment that donors have a hand in funding. Their generosity is felt by thousands of patients in all 10 buildings of the QEII, 365 days a year.
Thank you to all donors for continuing to share our vision of better health and demonstrating health begins with caring. If you would like to discuss ways of giving and opportunities to make a difference to health care, we’d love to hear from you.
