Hospital Foundation Receives Million-dollar Donation
An announcement of major proportions has the Lake of the Woods District Hospital Foundation giving a million thank-yous. In the largest one-time donation in the foundation’s history, one million dollars has been received as a gift from Richard and Millie Stovel who hail from Toronto. The Stovels spend half their year in Kenora on Lake of the Woods.
The money will go to support the renovation project for the surgical services department.
It’s phenomenal what they are giving us. They feel strongly about our charity and they wish to inspire other gifts to the hospital and community,” said managing director of the foundation Pat Matiowski.
Matiowski said the couple enjoy the community and wish to acknowledge how important it is to give to their second home.
We wanted to make a difference,” said Richard Stovel in a press release. “We feel that Kenora deserves to have the support of summer residents such as ourselves. Too often we forget about the need of the communities where our secondary residences are located.”
The money comes in one large sum of cash and securities of which extensive tax benefits are available, said Matiowski.
The project the couple would like to see the money put into is renovating and modernizing the surgical suite at the hospital. This means a complete re-vamp of the operating facilities, which were last touched in the very early 1960’s.
Matiowski said it will give them the opportunity to buy new equipment for the surgical unit at the same time. By upgrading the gas lines, air, fire code issues, windows, lighting and space issues, the facility will be completely changed.
The project must go through Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care approval and the plans must be drafted. Matiowski said it will likely take up to three years to complete the project.
Matiowski said this particular project is important to the Stovels as they think good health care should not be excluded anywhere in the province.
Mark Balcaen, chief executive officer of the hospital, noted the importance of this donation.
“It is an extraordinarily generous donation which the hospital desperately needs and will make very good use of.”
He said the surgical suite is in need of an update as it’s cramped and not equipped to handle some surgeries, even though they continue to use the facility. In the past two years they have added knee and cataract surgery to their list of services.
He said after the suite goes through this renovation it will be a first-class surgical unit which will rival any other modern hospital.
By Shelley Bujold
Miner and News
Wednesday May 16, 2007