| Over the last few years, healthcare in British Columbia has experienced tremendous change. Costs of healthcare have continued to rise. More than ever Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation is relying on the generosity of individuals, corporations, and foundations as partners in helping and contributing towards improved medical services and facilities.
This year Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation (RMHF) has committed to fundraising for $670,000 in equipment, education, research, and programming for healthcare in our communities of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows of which just a few are described below. In addition, your donations will help to purchase a number of pieces of life saving equipment for Ridge Meadows Hospital (RMH) as well as fund End of Life Care research, provide new beds for our elderly patients in residential care, and support a walking group for women recovering from cancer. It is you, our friends and neighbours, who make it possible for residents of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows to enjoy excellent medical care.
Exercise Tolerance Test for Cardiology
An Exercise Tolerance test or ETT is one of the first diagnostic tests administered to screen for blockage of arteries or damage to the heart. This test records your heart’s response to the stress of exercise. This non invasive test is done by hooking up the patient to a heart monitor and having them go through a pre-programmed exercise regime on a specialized treadmill. The ETT measures your heart’s activity, blood pressure and heart rate while exercising. |
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Gastroscope for Ambulatory Care
Gastroscopy is an examination of the inside of the gullet, stomach and duodenum. A doctor will order this kind of test when the patient presents with stomach problems. It is performed by using a thin, flexible fibre-optic instrument that is passed through the mouth and allows the doctor to see whether there is any damage to the lining of the oesophagus (gullet) or stomach, and/or whether there are any ulcers in the stomach or duodenum.
The advantages of gastroscopy are numerous. The doctor can study the mucous membrane of the stomach from the top to the bottom, and see irritation, wounds, or tumours. Gastroscopy is effective, and has now replaced the use of x-rays in many cases. It helps the doctor see any abnormalities in the gullet, the stomach and the duodenum. It is precise and safe. |
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It's a Girl's World - New Program
"It's A Girls World”, offered in partnership with Maple Ridge Parks & Leisure and School District # 42, is a program designed for girls in grades two to seven encouraging living a healthy lifestyle. By giving them an opportunity to try a variety of sports and programs, encouraging healthy body image and promoting self confidence, the girls are exposed to information on healthy lifestyle choices and that an active lifestyle can be fun and, at the same time, healthy. The program will operate out of two local elementary schools that have been identified as having a very high percentage of children living below the poverty lines. Children who live in poverty have many barriers to accessing recreation programs including lack of funding, lack of transportation, limited access to appropriate equipment and poor parental role modeling for active and health lifestyle choices. By offering this program to girls during the school day we are able to reduce these barriers. |
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Patient Comfort Cupboard
This year one of the new priority projects for which we are fundraising is a Patient Comfort Cupboard. The need for a patient supply cupboard has been identified by frontline hospital staff as a means to maintain the patient dignity through the provision of necessities and extra comforts for patients who have financial challenges, urgent need, or lack of family support. Sometimes when patients are admitted to the hospital they do not have even the most basic of personal items. For patients in this difficult situation, we will have a supply of small personal hygiene bags containing a hairbrush, shampoo, toothpaste and toothbrush, shaving cream and a razor. The cupboard will also be filled with shoes, slippers, socks, undergarments, track pants, shirts and jackets to be given to patients in extraordinary circumstances who may not have appropriate clothing for discharge. By providing these basic necessities we can decrease the length of time patients are waiting to be discharged and this, in turn, will improve access to hospital beds for others. With immediate access to these supplies, these frontline personnel will be able to focus their time on their highest priority - providing medical care rather than looking for clothing for a patient. |
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Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA) Infusion Pump for Surgical
A PCA Infusion Pump is used for all types of acute and chronic pain management including IV and epidural PCA, surgical site infusions and regional nerve blocks. They are small, lightweight and portable which enhances patient mobility, comfort and recovery. Medical dosages can be modified during treatment to meet the unique needs of each patient. |
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Respiratory Transport Ventilator for Respiratory
Critically ill patients in an urgent situation receive the ABC’s of critical care – A is airway. B is breathing. C is circulation. The respiratory transport ventilator is essential to ensuring the patient is breathing. During transport from Ridge Meadows Hospital to another healthcare centre our team is on high alert making sure the same level of intensive care goes with them. A mobile intensive care unit for critical ill patients is difficult to do during transport, however, it is essential. Due to the vibration and noise while in an ambulance it is very difficult to determine if a patient is breathing. This small, battery operated ventilator monitors the patient’s breathing and forces air into the lungs when the patient fails to do so on their own. The equipment is small, portable, battery powered and designed to withstand the rigors of transport. The respiratory transport ventilator is essential to a successful transfer of a critically ill patient. |
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Transport Monitor Defibrillator for Emergency
When people think of transport they picture a patient in an ambulance being taken to another hospital but in reality transport includes patients being moved between departments within Ridge Meadows Hospital much more often. At Ridge Meadows Hospital, we take the intensive care unit with the patient on our transfers. We ensure that we monitor the patient carefully during transports. Using the transport monitor defibrillator we can use the pacemaker function to speed up a slow heart rate and, if necessary, use the defibrillator to restore an irregular rhythm back to normal. When a patient arrives at Emergency with suspected heart problems, the physician may send them for X-rays, a CT Scan or determine that they require surgery. In order to ensure the heart is maintaining a regular heart beat, the patient will be moved to these departments with a transport monitor defibrillator. The monitor tracks the heartbeat of a patient and administers a shock causing the heart to beat each time the natural internal pacer fails to work. In an emergency situation the monitor can deliver 60 zaps per minute in order to keep a patients heart beating. The transport monitor defibrillators are used daily and often more than one is needed at the same time. |
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Wheelchairs
This year we are replenishing the supply of wheelchairs and other walking aids at Ridge Meadows Hospital. New wheelchairs and walkers will provide a number of benefits for our patients including access to transportation, early mobilization after surgery and rehabilitation during recovery from serious health problems such as strokes. In addition the new equipment will meet the patient safety and comfort needs identified by our Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists |
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For information on how you can help the foundation fund this equipment please click here to contact Annika Polegato or phone 604.466.6925.
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