by The Standard | Podcast January 27th, 2022 https://thestandardnewspaper.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/PPH-Passes-fundraising-goal-Jan-27th-2022.wav
DAN CEARNS, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, for The Standard
SCUGOG: The Port Perry Hospital Foundation has surpassed their fundraising goal to bring a CT scanner to the local hospital. On Monday, January 17th, the hospital foundation announced they had reached $4.15 million in donations for the ‘Here for You’ campaign. The hospital foundation had a goal of $4 million for the campaign.
“The community has done it, thank you! We now have the funding necessary to bring [a] CT [scanner] to Port Perry,” Dr. Mark Adams, a Port Perry Hospital Foundation Director said, in a statement. “We can now look forward to having [a] CT [scanner] right here in the hospital, reducing the time from diagnosis to treatment, improving care for our patients every day.”
In a press release, the Hospital Foundation stated they “raised the funding required to purchase a state-of-the-art CT scanner, renovate facilities for the CT Scanner Suite, while also ensuring other medical equipment is not compromised.”
The Port Perry Hospital Foundation had launched the ‘Here for You’ campaign in early March 2021. The press release explained the campaign was “projected to run until late 2022.”
“We have been overwhelmed with our community’s support,” Port Perry Hospital Foundation CEO Rachel Agnoluzzi shared in a statement. “The generosity [which] began with the Auxiliary to Lakeridge Health Port Perry and other leading donors a year ago has never lost momentum. Community groups, local businesses, and individuals have all stepped up, doing what they can. Over the holidays, donations of all sizes continued to add up, bringing us over our campaign goal [and] well ahead of schedule. This campaign has inspired so many to get involved, and we are so grateful to everyone who has contributed.” However, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the project’s timeline for the next steps.
“The strain of the COVID-19 Omicron variant is currently demanding the full attention [to be placed on] on our hospital and its people, temporarily pausing the CT project. But, Lakeridge Health’s Port Perry CT project team remains committed, projecting mid-2022 installation notwithstanding further forces beyond their control. Lakeridge Health updated wiring and electrical at Port Perry Hospital while it was closed following the fire in 2017, making the installation of a CT scanner possible,” the press release explained.