Care Cart brings smiles to GBGH team

In September 2022, the leadership team at Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH) partnered with Tom Smith Chevrolet Buick GMC to launch an initiative to bring smiles and snacks to front-line workers at the hospital. The Care Cart is stocked with snacks, treats, drinks and an assortment of non-food items, and is taken around daily by leaders of the organization to departments in the hospital, giving the teams something to boost their energy and spirits.

“With everything our team has been through we wanted to find a way to raise their spirits,” says Derek Desroches, communications specialist and care cart champion, GBGH. “It brings so much joy every time the cart goes out, our teams love when it stops by their departments.”

Steve Jacklin, owner of Tom Smith Chevrolet Buick GMC heard about the Care Cart, and was inspired to support the initiative for its first year with a donation to buy the cart and keep it stocked.

“We are proud to sponsor the Care Cart for the teams at GBGH,” says Jacklin. “These folks are working so hard to look after our community – our neighbours, friends, loved ones – and it is so important that we do what we can to look after them as well.”

An investment in mental health care for GBGH

On November 28, 2022, Karen O’Coin made a $2,500 investment in healthcare at Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH). The gift was inspired by Nicole Kraftscik’s personal mental health story, and will support the development of a mental health program at the Midland hospital.

Karen O’Coin has worked in the investment industry for more than 25 years, and currently works with BMO Nesbitt Burns in Orillia as an Advisor and Financial Planner. Although she doesn’t personally live in the North Simcoe community, she has many clients and friends who call the area home, and wanted to make a gift that would benefit all of them.

“Reading Nicole’s story was very powerful for me, as I’ve known Nicole for a long time,” says O’Coin. “I wanted to make a gift that would honour her story, and hopefully inspire others to do the same. Mental health is something that’s very near to my heart, and I’m investing to help GBGH bring more acute mental health services to the region.”

Currently, GBGH cares for approximately 1,700 mental health patients every year, or about three patients in crisis every day, but the hospital is not equipped or funded to care for mental health patients. GBGH has submitted a Capital Submission to the Ministry of Health to bring a comprehensive acute mental health program to our hospital.

To learn more, visit: https://gbghf.ca/current-needs/mental-health/