Local students and movie productions make their mark on the maternity ward
By Nelson Daily Staff
Many local students — whether seven years old and attending Rosemont Elementary, or 17 years old and graduating from L.V. Rogers High School — first greeted the world at Kootenay Lake Hospital.
This winter they are pulling together to give something back. Students from the two schools will raise funds to help buy a new infant scale for the local maternity ward.
Rosemont School principal Diane Larcombe told the Hospital Foundation that she “already had one child bring in $80 at the first of the year because she thought we were still raising money for the CT scanner. Kids need concrete goals and we intend to keep on donating.”
The school plans to start with a penny drive this February. The L.V. Rogers students on the other hand will start with snow shoveling for those buried from recent storms and will extend their efforts with car washes and other events later in the spring. In turn the older students will also help mentor the elementary students in their efforts.
The 20-year-old infant scale at KLH that first greeted some of these students was a cold plastic tray that required a blanket. The new infant scale can be warmed, provides weight in pounds or kilograms, and has a mechanism to secure an accurate weight even if the infant is moving.
Norma Sinclair, the acute health service director at KLH, told the Foundation that when the supplier, the Stevens Company of Delta, learned that students would be fundraising for it they discounted the $6,600 price a further five per cent. The Hospital Foundation has committed to partner with the students to provide any extra funds to buy the scale.
Further equipment upgrades for the maternity ward will come care of donations from the recently completed The Tall Man film production. As reported in November, the IHA accepted a donation for the Foundation in lieu of fees owed for cleanup of the Mount St. Francis site.
Foundation vice-chair Kris Witt said the idea came about “because the movie is about caring for lost children. We wanted to use their funds in an appropriate way and as spring comes around we thought this would make a marvelous contribution.”
The ward will be receiving a $20,000 infant monitor and a $19,000 obstetrics bladder scanner.
In 2002, the year before KLH received a major maternity ward renovation, the hospital saw 192 births. In 2009, after adding a third birthing room a few years back, the ward supported 341 deliveries and 583 outpatient visits.
Outpatient visits include non-stress testing, after birth weight checks, and pregnancy related support.
Sinclair added that “the Foundation purchased external fetal monitors are essential for that program and now we need to replace an old one. The timing of this support is terrific.”
The Hospital Foundation hasn’t decided their focus for their Breath of Spring campaign yet but directors were pleased that the students efforts and the Cold Rock Productions donation could all have an impact right now.
For further information on how you can support the L..V. Rogers Leadership students program, call Sara Einarson at 250-352-2075.
