Anonymous donors get the ball rolling on Northumberland Hills Hospital cardiac monitors

Photo courtesy of Northumberland Hills Hospital Foundation.

By Cecilia Nasmith

Northumberland Hills Hospital Foundation is gratified to announce a generous donation of $51,795 from anonymous local donors to purchase five new cardiac monitors for NHH.

The announcement described the gift as “an important first step towards the hospital's goal of acquiring 38 new cardiac monitors in the coming months, and the anonymous donors hope the community will rise to the challenge to fund the remaining.”

The Foundation shared the communication from the donors, explaining their philanthropy.

“We reached a point in our lives where we realized we were comfortable,” it said.

“We can take care of ourselves, so we stated looking beyond our own lives to see how we could make a meaningful difference in our community. When we connected with NHH Foundation CEO Rhonda Cunningham, we learned about the need for new cardiac monitors. Supporting the project felt like a good way to help people when they need it most.”

“It's so inspiring to work with people who genuinely want to strengthen their community and to help people,” Cunningham stated.

“The patients who will benefit from these monitors may be their friends, neighbours, loved ones or even complete strangers. Their willingness to step forward demonstrates the power of local giving and the difference it can make in health care.”

Cardiac monitors, which run about $10,359 each, play a critical role in patient care, and are essential to caring for critically ill patients. They provide health-care teams with such real-time information about a patient's heartbeat and rhythm, blood pressure and oxygen levels in the blood – allowing for timely intervention when concerns arise.

The donors stated their hope that this gift will inspire other donors.

“We would like to challenge others in our community to consider supporting this initiative,” they said.

“If you are in a position to fund a monitor outright, or even contribute toward the purchase of one, we hope you will do so. Health care touches all of us at some point in our lives. We hope others will follow our lead and do what they can to help ensure our hospital has the equipment it needs to provide the best possible care.”

The NHH Foundation welcomes donations of any size towards funding the remaining 33 cardiac monitors. For more information about this initiative (or other equipment needs at NHH), contact Cunningham at 905-377-7767.