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An Update from GBGH President & CEO

Given we are just over a month into 2022, I must start by wishing you all a wonderful New Year with best wishes of health, happiness and hope for the months ahead. We are still optimistic that at some point through 2022, we will return to some normalcy and transition out of this enduring and exhausting pandemic.

Although our hopes for a different 2021 didn’t turn out exactly as planned, we can still reflect with pride on the way in which the GBGH team has risen to countless challenges. We still have much to look forward to in 2022 as I hope to be able to share promising news this year.

For now though, our priority list continues to be dominated by the pandemic. Despite all our collective best efforts, we are dealing with the most challenging period of the pandemic to date. We have made the difficult decision to once again limit visitation as a safety measure and have mandatory vaccination policies for team members and visitors.

The prolonged duration of stressful times, combined with the overwhelming COVID burden, is certainly taking its toll on the GBGH team. We are seeing soaring rates of COVID illness in our community and our team has not gone unscathed. Like hospitals across the province, GBGH is experiencing unprecedented staffing pressures due to illness. As mandated by the province, GBGH is once again reducing non-urgent and elective services. Ramping down these surgeries and procedures is never ideal but is intended to serve two purposes – increase bed capacity and preserve staffing to assist where needed throughout hospitals.

GBGH will continue to make these important decisions with the best interests of our patients, team members and community in mind. Even with the current challenges, we continue our steadfast commitment to be here for you when you need us. We will get through this together and we will always find a way to continue providing exceptional care to our community – even in times of great adversity.

Gail Hunt
President & CEO
Georgian Bay General Hospital

Conrad & Donna Huber match Kickstart Your Heart donations* to GBGH Foundation

For the first two weeks of February, the Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH) Foundation is raising funds for defibrillators and crash carts, inspired by a $50,000 match gift from Conrad and Donna Huber.  This year’s ‘Kickstart Your Heart’ campaign will aim to raise $175,000 to purchase six crash carts, equipped with life-saving defibrillators.

In 2021, the inaugural Kickstart Your Heart campaign raised nearly $75,000 thanks to a $20,000 gift from the Hubers, $25,000 pledge from Balm Beach House of Glass, 60 individual donors and six local businesses who committed a portion of Valentine’s Day sales or items to the campaign.

In total, Georgian Bay General Hospital requires 11 new crash carts and defibrillators, to replace aging and outdated equipment and technology.

“Searching for an IV, suction catheter, defibrillator pads, airway equipment, or even gauze, really makes an already stressful environment even more stressful,” says Tyler Pilon, critical care nurse, GBGH.  “These precious minutes truly make a difference. Through the years, I have seen many life-saving stories and knowing that you can trust the equipment to function the way it was intended, and have everything readily available, truly makes the job easier.”

To ensure GBGH is equipped with the appropriate life-saving tools, Bell Media’s Pure Country 106 and Bounce 104.1 are putting their voices to the airwaves in the coming weeks.

“Bell Media is supporting the Kickstart Your Heart campaign because we understand how important it is for communities to work at their best potential,” shares Meg Whitton, morning show host on Bounce 104.1. “We want hospital staff to have the very best equipment and we want to show our hospital staff that we are willing to provide that for them.”

To see the full interview with Meg Whitton and co-host, Brian Wicks, please click here.

The generous match gift of $50,000 is a testament to the Huber’s love for each other and their community.  They share a great love story, so a campaign to celebrate love, hearts and community was the ideal way to encourage others to join them in supporting GBGH.

“We enjoy being together and doing things together,” share the Hubers. “We have been so fortunate in life and it makes us both happy to be able to give back to our community.  It is our gift to each other.”

Those interested in having their gift doubled can make a donation by clicking here.  Individuals can also get involved by joining the conversation on Facebook and Instagram and sharing posts on social media.

 

^{*Donations will be matched up to a total of $50,000.}