BARRY’S BAY – It’s all about family at St. Francis Memorial Hospital, and they aren’t just talking about blood relations.
To the staff of St. Francis, everyone in the community is family, and that is exactly how they treat you.
On October 18, the hospital kicked off their new campaign, Family Helping Family.
To start it all off they unveiled the banner, which will be displayed just outside of the hospital doors.
This campaign is all about helping each other by improving the quality of equipment at our hospital.
With a goal of $1.2 million in mind, many of the staff and friends of the hospital are buckling down and working their hardest.
The launch of the campaign started with the announcement of the funds they have managed to raise thus far, and with an excited Campaign Chair Darlene Sernoskie, it was declared that they had managed to pull together, with the help of the community, $700,000.
The money they have managed to raise was even before they launched the campaign, and they are well over halfway to their goal.
“You as donors have lots of choices to where you park your dollars,” Randy Penney, CEO of SFMH, said. “The money is well spent.”
“We are so grateful to these “family members” who are leading the way to ensure that our hospital has the support it needs,” Sernoskie said.
“I am very proud of what we have been able to achieve,” Penney added.
The money raised through this campaign is going towards the new X-ray machine as well as many other necessities the hospital requires in order to stay as up to date as possible. This will prevent those who need certain services from travelling far distances.
“This campaign is not about building bricks and mortar. It is about maintaining a hospital that can keep step with the hospitals of today, so we can continue to be a strong hospital for tomorrow,” Dr. Bruce Harris, chief of staff, said.
Harris continued to explain how having such technologies right here at home is so important.
“Having a well-equipped hospital, close to home, means we can begin treatment as soon as possible, and also eliminates unnecessary and long distance travel,” Harris explained.
Gerard O’Malley, honorary campaign chair, spoke of how important the hospital was to him, and how it was right there in his time of need.
Story continues in the October 24 , 2012 issue of The Valley Gazette.