Skip to content

Sidney area Rotarians helping make hospital patients comfy

A donation by Sidney area Rotarians will help the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation make more patients more comfortable during their stay in hospital.
9217941_web1_171102-PNR-rotaryssphfdonation
Past President of the Rotary Club of Sidney by the Sea, Bruce Burns, presents an oversize novelty cheque to Karen Morgan, Executive Director of the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation. (Submitted)

A donation by Sidney area Rotarians will help the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation make more patients more comfortable during their stay in hospital.

Sidney by the Sea Rotary Club recently donated $9,826 to the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation (SPHF), which has already used the money to buy two Stryker Isoflx LAL pressure distribution mattresses and a set of bone distractors. The latter are designed to aid with setting fractures and the former help reduce skin breakdown of people lying on hospital beds.

Shirley Finnigan, a Clinical Nurse Leader in the Saanich Peninsula Hospital’s Extended Care Unit, says, “the proposed intentions for the mattresses was bang on target! The specialty mattresses are in constant use and doing their job at preventing skin breakdown.”

In the operation room, Barb Molberg, Registered Nurse, Clinical Coordinator of Surgical Services, said, “the proposed intention of the donation has definitely been achieved. Having our own bone distractor for OR eliminates the need to borrow from other Island Health sites. The bone distractor has been used multiple times with our orthopedic surgeons.”

Past-President of the Rotary Club of Sidney by the Sea, Bruce Burns, presented the cheque to Karen Morgan, Executive Director of the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation. The donation was made possible in part due to the Monte Carlo fundraiser held at Mary Winspear Centre in May of this year.

There was also a contribution from a grant from Rotary District 5020, covering Vancouver Island and Northwest Washington. The SPHF stated it is very grateful to the Sidney by the Sea Rotary Club for all their hard work to make this generous contribution possible.

The Saanich Peninsula Hospital is a vital part of the Peninsula community and after more than 30 years of work, the Foundation sees a strong sense of ownership on the part of area residents.