A Message from Gail Hunt, RVH President & CEO
Have you ever tried to do something really complex while in a cramped space? Maybe you’ve tried cooking with kids and pets underfoot or tripped over tools in a crowded workshop.
Now imagine the pressure of working in this tight space if someone’s life was on the line.
This is the situation our care teams at the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) increasingly find themselves in. Many areas of our health centre are far too small to accommodate the increasing need for more specialized care and updated equipment. That means we’re often above capacity and caring for patients in less-than-ideal spaces.
Capacity issues are a problem RVH will continue to face as the population in our region rapidly grows. More and more people are choosing to call this region home because of the unique way of life it offers. Around here, we call this life our “wild life” – lives filled with adventure, fun, beautiful spaces, family and friends. As healthcare providers, it’s our responsibility to protect this way of life and we do this by ensuring that all of us have access to the world-class care we need right here, close to home.
Take Scott Dion – he’s the smiling patient pictured on your envelope. Scott had a serious brush with death when he suffered a blood clot in his lung – right after he’d been diagnosed with blood cancer. Scott was rushed to our ICU, his lungs at only two percent capacity. Our world-class team swung into action, always ensuring to do their best work even within the tight spaces, navigating around IVs, cords, and a large ventilator in order to save Scott’s life.
I’m thrilled to say that their heroic efforts were successful. Scott is now thriving, and back to living his wild life skiing, camping and doing all the things he loves after receiving this critical care. But as our region’s population continues to explode, the need for more space and updated equipment is reaching a critical point.
Your Donation to the Keep Life Wild Campaign Directly Impacts the Lives of Patients and Their Families.
Many people don’t realize how much our health centre relies on donors like you. Government funding doesn’t pay for everything. That’s why a great deal of our vital, life-saving equipment and many other enhancements in the hospital are only made possible because of donations from community members.
Life-saving healthcare doesn’t just happen. It takes all of us working together to make sure our medical teams have the space and equipment they need to keep us all living wild and healthy lives.
If you’ve ever received treatment at RVH, you likely know how valuable it is to have access to the latest technology and specialized care right here close to home, friends, and family – without the expense and logistical headaches of traveling to the GTA. But this quality of care will only continue to be here for you and your loved ones if forward thinking donors like you continue to give.
Below you’ll find brief report highlighting some recent examples of the impact your gifts can have. Inside, you’ll see how donor support is transforming our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) so our tiniest patients can receive the very best care. You’ll also read about two incredible new pieces of donor-funded equipment that will make RVH a leader in advanced diagnostics, treatment, and medical education.
Life-saving healthcare doesn’t just happen. It takes all of us working together to make sure our medical teams have the space and equipment they need to keep us all living wild and healthy lives.
By supporting our Keep Life Wild campaign, you can help us build this bigger health centre, as well as enhance patient care in a number of ways including the purchase of equipment and technology. Your contribution will directly impact the lives of patients and their families, ensuring that they receive the care they deserve when they need it most.
You’re an Important Part of Every Patient’s Journey
Christopher, a NICU graduate and his mom, Stephanie.
When newborns are fighting for their lives, they need the very best: the best equipment, the best facilities, and the best care.
Our teams in the NICU are already giving our tiniest patients the gold standard of treatment, going above and beyond to offer specialized, life-saving care. But our NICU was built more than 20 years ago, and the open concept space no longer meets current medical standards.
The new unit will be more than seven times larger than the current space, with private rooms where babies, moms and families can heal and bond. Your gifts will help build this space as well as provide leading-edge equipment such as new giraffe incubators and halo bassinets that can support premature and critically ill babies’ complex medical needs.
PET-CT scanner being delivered to RVH with goal of being operational by Fall 2023.
Your support of the Keep Life Wild campaign isn’t just about the future of RVH, it is about protecting the unique way of life we have here in Simcoe Muskoka. It has a tangible, life-saving impact on the lives of people here in our region today and in the future. One recent example is the newly purchased PET-CT scanner, an advanced dual imaging system that helps detect cancer cells and tumors in real time.
Until now, more than 600 patients have had to travel outside our region every year to obtain these crucial scans. Thanks to your support, patients can now stay close to their homes and loved ones and receive the highest quality care right here at RVH.
This PET-CT is used for diagnosing cancer, monitoring response to treatment and detecting recurrence. It also helps diagnose and treat cardiovascular disease, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and epilepsy.
Part of our much-needed expansion is purchasing even more leading-edge technology. Better diagnostics mean faster results and quicker treatment, so patients can get back to living their wild lives, doing what they love, sooner. Please give today to the Keep Life Wild campaign and help RVH grow. It’s just one of the ways you are helping give patients access to the very best equipment right here close to home.
Team RVH is pictured demonstrating the new VR education
tools at the Innovative Automation warehouse.
The power of donor support is taking medical education to the next level by, giving RVH’s care teams the ability to advance their skills and stretch beyond their current abilities.
Thanks to a generous gift from Barrie-based company, Innovative Automation, RVH is building a state-of-the-art medical education centre focused on the integration of high-fidelity manikin and virtual reality simulation technologies. It will give medical teams the opportunity to practice their skills in hyper-realistic environments.
Inside the RVH Innovative Automation Simulation Lab, simulations will be customized to match the health centre’s physical layouts and equipment configurations and reproduce complex medical scenarios. It will also integrate team-based immersive experiences to train for major traumas and other highly specialized situations.