PEMBROKE — Pembroke Regional Hospital was delighted to recently host a public reception celebrating the arrival of MRI in the region and to give thanks to the many people who supported the $4.5 million fundraising campaign for the purchase and installation of this important piece of technology.
Held in the main lobby of the Best Western Pembroke Inn and Conference Centre, the event was attended by more than 100 guests including donors, area residents, PRH staff and physicians, those involved with the MRI construction project and community partners.
Expressing how “great it feels when a plan comes together”, PRH President and CEO Pierre Noel spoke about the four year journey to get to this point which involved support from the Champlain Local Health Integration Network and Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, as well as years of detailed planning and preparation in order to bring an MRI to our community.
From determining the best location within the hospital for housing the MRI, architectural and construction planning, the recruitment of additional radiologists and MRI technologists, and putting into place all of the staff and patient safety procedures required when operating a “12,000 pound magnet wrapped in helium”, Mr. Noel said all of this had to be done while the PRH Foundation worked hard behind-the-scenes and then publicly to raise the $4.5 million.
All aspects of the project culminated in the MRI becoming fully operational on October 1– a date that will certainly go down in the hospital’s history.
“Having an MRI close to home means that our residents will no longer need to make a four-hour return trip to Ottawa for the test, patients will get their critical diagnoses sooner and they will no longer have to incur the stress and expense of travelling,” Mr. Noel said.
“For our hospital, it will allow us to grow and enhance our teaching programs, it will help in our physician and specialist recruitment efforts, it will enable us to perform more types of cancer surgeries and it’s key to bringing a full service orthopaedic program to the Upper Ottawa Valley.”
PRH Board Chair Kelly Hollihan spoke about the importance of allowing local communities to determine their own health care priorities and noted that a very significant element of the hospital’s strategic plan has always been to improve patient access to diagnostic tests, procedures and treatments and, where possible, reduce the need to travel to urban centres by bringing these essentials closer to home.
“Seeking an MRI for our community was a bold action to take, but with the support of our LHIN leaders in fitting the Pembroke Regional Hospital into the regional MRI plan, our local leadership team in sourcing the skilled talent and resources needed to launch and sustain the operation, and the generous sponsorship toward the purchase of the equipment, together we have turned a vision into a reality and that is an accomplishment worth celebrating,” Ms. Hollihan said.
Additional speakers at the reception included Champlain LHIN CEO Chantale LeClerc who spoke about the importance of MRI in this part of the region, Radiologist and Chief of Diagnostic Imaging Dr. Fred Matzinger who talked about the technology itself, and PRH Foundation Chair Barbara Schoof who spoke about the team effort of the Image Matters campaign and the far-reaching support that resulted in the announced completion of the campaign at the recent Black and White Gala.
“Service clubs, school clubs, churches, businesses, our hospital staff, physicians, first-time donors and regular donors all saw a need and rallied together to support this much needed cause to improve health care in our region,” Ms. Schoof said.
“Without all of our devoted donors and volunteers, along with our dedicated Foundation Team, this tremendous goal would not have been achieved.”
Several special features of the event included a video presentation depicting the MRI journey and an electronic virtual tour of the new MRI suite. Both are linked to the hospital’s website and the video is available on the hospital’s YouTube channel.
To cap off the festivities, the Early Bird draw for the Foundation’s Health & Home Lottery was held, with $5,555.55 going to ticket holder Lorrain Finn of Barry’s Bay.
