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The Morden Elks, an organization that participates in various initiatives to enrich the community, has recently made a generous donation to help with medical equipment in the Pembina Valley.
The donation went to the Boundary Trails Health Centre (BTHC) Foundation.
“We have a really great working relationship with our local community Elks group — great group of guys — and we shared with them the list of equipment that we are purchasing for the hospital,” says Shannon Samatte-Folkett, the executive director of the BTHC Foundation.
“They decided to share some of the proceeds from their [Cash is King raffle] towards an item for our Rehabilitation Services Department.”
The first machine of its kind in the region
Samatte-Folkett says the $10,000 will go toward a TIMS machine, which is a video recording system.
According to BTHC Foundation’s Facebook page, the machine will create new opportunities for care.
“The TIMS machine will be a valuable addition to the department, significantly enhancing the diagnostic and therapeutic services for patients with swallowing disorders,” says the page.
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“This state-of-the-art tool allows for more comprehensive assessments and accurate diagnoses while also reducing patient wait times and the need for patients to travel outside the community for testing.”
Once the TIMS system has been purchased, it will be the first of its kind in Southern Health-Santé Sud.
‘Grateful’
Samatte-Folkett is thankful to the Elks for their contribution to the region’s healthcare, which she says will help not just locally, but also regionally.
“I know I say I'm grateful a lot, and I really am,” she says. “We don't take this support for granted. Grants like this ... allow us to keep improving care. These pieces of equipment are not cheap, so any kind of grant we receive is so helpful for us to achieve our goals of supporting the healthcare for patients in our region.”
For Samatte-Folkett, the donation from the Morden Elks is representative of the community’s willingness to get involved in strengthening the healthcare in the region.
“We're just really proud to work alongside groups and individuals. They just really care about our local healthcare,” she says.
With files from Ty Hildebrand