Pointe-Claire (Québec) – October 4, 2016 – The Lakeshore General Hospital Foundation is reaching out to the West Island community, its partners, and business leaders to help raise $4.6 million dollars for 2016-2017. The money raised will help improve the level of critical, cardiac, geriatric, and mental health care West Islanders receive, close to home.
“Our objective with this campaign is to offer our family, friends, and neighbours the best possible standard of care they are entitled to receive close to home,” says Heather Holmes, Managing Director of the Lakeshore General Hospital Foundation. “Life can change in an instant, and by being close to our community, where we’ve always been for over 50 years, and investing in our local hospital, we ensure that when life changes, we are there for you,” adds Ms. Holmes.
Built in the 1960s to serve a bedroom community of 60,000, the Lakeshore General Hospital (LGH) has since seen multiple expansions and transformations. The population served has now quintupled to nearly 300,000. With an aging population in its catchment area, the LGH is now treating ever-more complex medical and psycho-social conditions.
Three projects have been earmarked as hospital priorities over the next two years:
1. Expand and integrate the Intensive Care and Cardiac Care Units (ICU-CCU)
The expansion and concentration of life-saving expertise into a single multipurpose space will enable specialized critical care doctors and nurses to work side by side more efficiently and with greater synergy. This will also contribute to alleviate an overcrowded ER, as patients cannot be moved to an ICU that already operates at full capacity.
This project will shave precious minutes during critical life-or-death situations.
Based on leading best practices, the project will include the addition of four new specialized ICU rooms, for a total of 15 rooms increasing capacity by 270 admissions annually; the redesign of the ICU-CCU providing better patient-care and enabling 24-hour visual monitoring of patients from a central hub; the addition of state-of-the-art equipment such as high-volume infusion pumps, volumetric and BiPap ventilators and hemodialysis units; the centralization of 8 CCU beds, currently located in several areas.
2. Expand and enhance the Geriatric Unit
Our population is old and the numbers are increasing rapidly. In fact the number of West Islanders over age 65 is expected to increase from just over 5 000 to 48 000 by 2030, making it the area where the proportion of aging persons is increasing the fastest on the Island of Montreal. The Geriatric Unit will offer best geriatric practices through a holistic approach, wheelchair and specialized equipment-accessible bathrooms, specialized furniture, single-occupancy rooms, isolation rooms to contain infections, improved common areas and therapeutic socialization areas, all the necessary upgrades to help our parents and grandparents return home as quickly as possible.
3. Enhance Psychiatric Unit
West Island families are faced with mental health issues such as depression, addiction and schizophrenia, to name only a few. Physical surroundings, supported by a range of therapeutic practices, play a major role in a speedy recovery and reintegration in the community. The project calls for moving the Psychiatric Unit to a larger and brighter setting, while increasing the number of single-occupant rooms, reducing crowding and providing patients with greater privacy and dedicated spaces for activities, which are critical to improving the patients’ road to recovery.
Annual Partners: The LGHF would like to thank the following for signing on as official partners and supporting the Foundation in its mission: Desjardins, Catsys IT & Media, Groupe Spinelli, Radimed West-Island, Réseau Sélection, TC Media, Aqua Spa Lyne Giroux, Belvedere Cemetery and Funeral Complex, Club Piscine Pierrefonds, Complexes Funéraires Yves Légaré, GroupJKC, Jean Coutu (Beaurepaire), L’Espace Beaconsfield Inc., Mansfield Athletic Club, Montreal Airport Marriott In-Terminal Hotel, Pharmaprix SouthwestOne/MedEquip, Pianos Bolduc, Plus Belle la Vie, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Sean Fitzpatrick (Group Sutton Quebec), Spa CurAge, and Team Laudi (Investors Group).
About the LGHF
Founded in 1964, the Foundation’s mandate is to collect the necessary funds to improve patient care at the Lakeshore General Hospital. In this way, it contributes to the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment, major structural renovations, and assists in supporting programs and specialized training for the professional staff, providing funding to initiatives not supported by the government.
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