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#Paediatric

Variety Continues Support of Families in Need

By Thank You!

Thank you to the Variety – The Children’s Charity of BC for their recent commitment of $9,000 to support children and their families who must travel to Nanaimo to receive medical care at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. No family should ever face a financial burden so their child can get the medical care they need. Grants from Variety help lower income families cover travel costs so they can focus on supporting their child and not worrying about how to pay the bills.

The grants help cover the costs of accommodation, food, transportation and specialty items such as car seats for premature babies. Their generosity helps many families each year and, to date, Variety has donated over $750,000 to support better healthcare for children living in Central Vancouver Island! We are so very grateful.

Photo: Members of the Perinatal, NICU and Paediatric Departments at NRGH. Front row: Pat, Deborah, Shannon, Alix, Wendy & Colleen. Back row: Carolyn, Trina, Vanessa, Kathy, Alesha, Lizzy, Cassidy & Emily

Coin Drive at Woodgrove Centre until Boxing Day

By News

Coin Drive for Charity on now until December 26th in support of paediatric care at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital! Take your spare change to Woodgrove Centre and all funds collected will be donated to the Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation and used towards medical equipment and patient comfort items to help care for the hospital’s littlest of patients. Visit www.woodgrovecentre.com for all their holiday activities.

1,000 Teddy Bears for NRGH!

By Thank You!

Thank you to Sands Funeral Chapel – Nanaimo for their generous donation of Teddy bears! They have committed to donating 1,000 throughout the year with the first 250 arriving just recently. They will provide much comfort to many children receiving medical care at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.

Photo: Sarah Smith, Laura McKinnon & Wendy Douglas, Sands Funeral Chapel

Starlight & Toys “R” Us Support Kids in Hospital

By Thank You!

The Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation is grateful to once again receive $2,000 from the Toys “R”Us | Babies“R”Us Canada grant program! The funds will help stock the Treasure Chest in the Paediatrics Department at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH). The Treasure Chest toys provide a much-needed distraction for children of all ages, from toddlers to teens, while they receive medical care at the hospital. The toys can help patients face the stress of treatment or alleviate the boredom of waiting for the next appointment.

In the past year, thanks to Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada and Toys“R”Us | Babies“R”Us Canada , NRGH has also received a Hospital Grant, Comfort Kits, Baby Kits, Baby & Toddler Kits, NICU/PICU Resources and other support for NRGH patients and their families. It would not be possible to provide all of these items without their funding. Their contributions are a valuable component of patient comfort and care for our young patients at NRGH.

The Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation is among 85 charities who received funding from the Toys“R”Us | Babies“R”Us Canada grant program to support distractive entertainment for hospitalized children. Nationally, tens of thousands of seriously ill and hospitalized children will benefit through other grant programs including the distribution of 7,000 Emergency Room Admit Kits; 10,000 Baby & Toddler Kits; and equipment for 100 NICU/PICU’s across Canada. Learn more about these and other incredible programs on Starlight’s website at https://www.starlightcanada.org/our-programs/

All of this is possible due the commitment and effort of Toys“R”Us and Starlight. Since introducing their fundraising program during 1998’s holiday season, Toys“R”Us Canada has been able to raise more than $20 million dollars for Starlight, supporting hundreds of thousands of during that time! In 2019, the eleventh year of the TRU grant program, over $1,000,000 has been distributed to hospitals across Canada.

Thank you Toys“R”Us | Babies“R”Us Canada and Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada for your generosity and support!

Chix with Stix Support Nurse Education

By Thank You!

Thank you to the Chix with Stix Dragon Boat Team for their generous $1,500 donation.

Their donation is in honour of Holly Martina Vermeulen Paquette who passed away at the age of 9 months on January 10, 2019 as a result of complications from Influenza A. Chix paddler Amanda is Holly’s aunt and a former nurse at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. The donation will support nurses’ education in paediatrics critical care.

Their donation was raised through a combination of Paddlers’ annual dues and sponsorship contributions. To date, they have donated over $30,000 to support multiple areas of care for our community. We are grateful for their commitment and give our condolences to Holly’s extended family.

Photo: Janet Povey & Heather Mitchell

Investing in Nurse Education

By Medical Staff Education
Ongoing education is an important component of patient care. The Hospital Foundation is delighted to share an update on our latest investment in education for our amazing paediatric nursing staff at NRGH.
“I would like to thank the Nanaimo Hospital Foundation for their generosity in supplying 8 tickets for Nurses to attend this year’s Parent Child Conference in Nanaimo. This is the first year it was opened up to nursing and we were well represented thanks largely to the Foundation.
The topics and speakers were phenomenal. There were two fully packed days with talks from the role of antimicrobials in Asthma, harm reduction, implementing skin to skin contact at caesarian births, antibiotic use during pregnancy and lactation, hyperglycemia in Newborns to name only a few. All of the topics were so relevant to our every day practice and were well received and attended by our perinatal staff and providers from all over Vancouver Island.
We had 16 nurses total attend the conference 8 of those tickets were funded by the Foundation. Each of those staff are sharing the knowledge they gained with their peers who were unable to attend so our whole team has benefited.” Trina Knight, Manager, NRGH
Left front: Elizabeth O’Keef-Batta, Erin MacDonald, Pam Gardiner, Kathy Clark, Elizabeth Carlson, Joelle Pattern
Left back: Juanita Parsonage, Kristina Maguire, Melissa Gasson, Iris Halbach, Katherine Robinson, Alisha Pelletier, Trina Knight
Missing in the photo : Janice Bertoia, Jennifer Duncan and Jenny Williams

Matching Donation Secures New Medical Equipment

By Thank You!

Thank you to Muriel and Victor Jones for their generous matching donation! With their support, the Hospital Foundation was able to purchase a Pentax VNLJ10 Scope. This specialized scope for paediatric diagnostic and therapeutic procedures offers enhanced image quality. It also replaces a larger diameter probe with a narrow 2.5mm wand, especially important for paediatric procedures. The new, smaller scope will reduce stress on both patients and parents. The high-definition scope will be used by Dr. David Cheung and colleagues for endoscopic procedures on patients as young as newborns at NRGH.

Photo: Janice Perrino, CEO, Nanaimo Hospital Foundation, Dr. David Cheung, ENT Specialist, NRGH, Muriel & Victor Jones

Purple Hats for Newborns

By Thank You!

Thank you to the Parksville Qualicum Retired Teacher’s Association members who knitted these adorable hats for new babies at NRGH! They will help keep the babies comfortable and warm through the upcoming chilly months.

Photo: Janice Perrino, CEO, Hospital Foundation & Barb Brett, Parksville Qualicum Retired Teacher’s Association

Baby Sim

By News, Thank You!

There are incredible teaching tools available to hospitals and Sim Baby is one of them! This advanced simulator is incredible – different scenarios can be programmed via laptop to simulate real-life health issues and the baby reacts accordingly. From variable heart rates and stomach distention to limb movement and vocalizations, the medical staff training on the Sim Baby are able to practice complicated scenarios with realistic feedback so they can provide even better care for the littlest of our patients.

Due to the generosity of a donor, the Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation was able to fund the Baby Sim for the Paediatric Department. The department hosted a “baby shower” complete with cake to celebrate the addition of this state of the art teaching device and to thank the donor!

Sim Baby

There are very advanced teaching tools available for medical professionals to ensure they can provide the best care possible to patients of all ages. This Sim Baby is just one example. It is so advanced, they can program different scenarios via a laptp that enable nurses and doctors to practice advanced techniques and the "baby" will react to the treatment they are giving it. From variable heart rates, change in skin colour, vocalizations, limb movement, stomach distention and so much more, Sim Baby is incredible. Due to the generousity of a donor, the Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation was able to fund the Sim Baby!

Posted by Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation on Friday, September 13, 2019

Brave Gowns for Paediatric Patients

By Thank You!

Thank you to Michaels  Nanaimo and Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada for the Brave Gowns they donated to the Paediatric Department at NRGH! Michaels Nanaimo was the top store in Canada once again for the Starlight donation drive and the gowns were the prize!

Children and teens now have a fun and colourful option to choose when receiving medical care. We are grateful for being a charity of choice for staff at Michaels Nanaimo.

Top Photo: Sandra Hirota, Certified Child Life Specialist at NRGH, models one of the gowns

Bottom Photo: A selection of the gowns available