Foundation Wall of Honour takes advantage of new technology
By Nelson Daily Editor
The hundreds of people who contributed to the Kootenay Lake Hospital Foundation’s campaign are now getting their just due — and it is a touch of technology that will grant them that.
This past week the Hospital Foundation unveiled a new Wall of Honour to greet people on arrival at Kootenay Lake Hospital, using a large touchscreen display to replace the wall of plaques.
The change had been planned for over a year to coincide with completion of the CT Scanner campaign, but the need had been identified well before then, said Hospital Foundation administrator Bryna Idler.
“The former wall had hundreds of small plaques that recognized major donors and memorial gifts, but there was little room to add more and the general public rarely took time to appreciate the message,” she said.
The Foundation directors looked at options to secure a second display wall at the hospital and to enhance the current design, but they found they were limited by both space and cost.
Fortunately creativity emerges from adversity and they believe they found an alternative that will serve them for a long time, with the many small plaques on the new wall joined by a large touchscreen display.
“The goal for a recognition wall should be to offer thanks for past generosity and to encourage future contributions to the well being of our community so we hope our concept will prove successful.” said director Brian May.
“It wasn’t an easy decision to change a display that has served us well for over a decade, so we made sure to distribute the many plaques back to donors and families.”
The extra space provided by use of a video display will allow the wall to focus on the contributions of major donors and service club partners while making people aware of the full scope of support they receive through the touchscreen display.
The interactive aspect will also encourage people to search for donors, to read their stories, and to consider the effort required for programs like the CT Campaign.
Searches can be done based on names, the level of donation, a specific campaign, a memorial, or a financial plan. It can also display information about upcoming events or projects.
The Foundation also took advantage of the design talents in the community, with Laura Galbraith coordinating concepts from a number of graphic artists. Patty Johnson gathered people to unscrew hundreds of plaques and the maintenance staff at KLH stepped forward to help prepare the wall.
The final concept was designed with generosity from Brad Steele of Frolix Designs and the display was created by perennial Foundation supporter Speed-Pro Signs. Other hospital foundations in the region have been following the development and are expected to try similar concepts soon.
“Growing pains are expected but we’re pleased with the result and we hope the public agrees. Everyone’s invited to drop by and see the change,” said May.
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