The Dr. Helmcken Memoiral Hospital Auxiliary was able to purchase a new ventilator for the hospital after receiving funding from two local charitable organizations.
The North Thompson Communities Foundation and the Clearwater and District Hospice Society each provided about half of the $53,000 price tag in grants to the auxiliary, to purchase the ventilator, something that has been on the hospital’s wish list for quite some time.
“Everyone was very excited about it,”said Tasha Jensen, acute clinical lead at the hospital.
Hospital staff had been using a ventilator on loan Thompson Rivers University as the old one stopped working before the funds could be allocated.
The arrival of the ventilator was sooner as expected, coming to the hospital in about six months, instead of nine.
Michelle Stuttard, manager of clinical operations for Clearwater, Barriere and Blue River, said the ventilator is not something the hospital uses every day, and hope they never have to use it, but is a needed item.
newsroom@clearwatertimes.com
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