Kay Stafford Community Award winners stand alongside local high school and Loyalist College bursary recipients at Quinte West City Hall Wednesday, June 8, 2016. Photo by Brock Ormond, Quinte News.
In spite of some notable challenges and adversity in the past year, numbers from the Annual General Meeting of the Trenton Memorial Hospital Foundation are showing positive signs for the future.
This tough year for TMH included a Quinte Healthcare proposal to move day surgeries to other hospitals, the majority of them being sent to Belleville General Hospital. That plan is now on hold, but a decision on how surgery will be handled by QHC is expected soon.
It was revealed by treasurer Darrell Smith at the meeting Wednesday afternoon that the Foundation had generated a total revenue of $2.3 million over the fiscal year of 2015-16, a steady rise from as far as four years prior. In addition, $1.78 million in revenue from donations in the past year, an 83 percent increase over the previous year.
TMH Foundation Executive Director Wendy Warner said that despite a few bumps in the road, she feels positive about the state of Trenton Memorial Hospital moving forward.
When asked about the ongoing talks of a health hub coming to the city in conjunction with TMH, Warner told Quinte News that it would make for a strong healthcare environment in the community. However, she says she doesn’t support it in isolation.
Warner also added that a Supplementary Letters Patent, introduced in 2013, has changed what the Foundation is able to fundraise for going forward. This has allowed a brand new fundraising campaign called TMHF Future Care to be introduced.
Chair of the TMH board Phil Wild says the funds are available for priority medical services at the hospital as a result of the campaign’s introduction, but adds that they want to be able to do more with the campaign to help others.
Wild also admits the future is uncertain, so they want to try and create as much awareness as possible.
The Kay Stafford Community Awards, high school and college bursaries were also handed out. Quinte West Fire & Emergency, the John Howard Society, the Quinte Children’s Foundation and Our TMH were just some of the community groups that received grants at the meeting. Students going into the healthcare field from East Northumberland Secondary, Bayside Secondary, Quinte Christian and Trenton High Schools, as well as Loyalist College were also represented and given bursaries of $500, $1000 and $5000.
