$17,000 to hospital from Stark Family Fund

Pictured here at the presentation of $17,000 to the Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation, from the Stark Family Fund, from left, are: Ryan, Kyle and Tim Beatty, Don Stanton, president of the PECMH Foundation, Larry Matheson, vice president of the PECMH Foundation, Vikram Varma, executive director of the Community Foundation for Kingston and Area. Front row, from left are Anna Marie Ferguson, executive director of the PECMH Foundation and Linda Beatty.

The Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation was the grateful recipient of a $17,000 grant from the Stark Family Fund on June 30, 2010. The grant money will be used to purchase an Electrocardiograph (ECG) machine for Picton hospital.

An ECG (also EKG or electrocardiograph) machine works by detecting and amplifying the tiny electrical changes on the skin that are caused when the heart muscle “depolarizes” during each heartbeat. The ECG is the most commonly performed cardiac test. This is because the ECG is a useful screening tool for a variety of cardiac abnormalities. An ECG is the best way to measure and diagnose abnormal rhythms of the heart, particularly abnormal rhythms caused by damage to the conductive tissue that carries electrical signals, or abnormal rhythms caused by electrolyte imbalances. In a heart attack (or myocardial infarction) the ECG can identify if the heart muscle has been damaged in specific areas, though not all areas of the heart are covered. Everyone who comes into the Hospital with any kind of chest pain or shortness of breath can benefit from an ECG to help in making the diagnosis of a serious cause of the symptoms.

Established in 2003 by a $1.3 million bequest entrusted to the Community Foundation for Kingston and Area by Ruth Stark of the Stark Family of Bloomfield, Ontario, this fund supports projects in Prince Edward County. Grant applications from this fund are administered by Tim and Linda Beatty and their sons Ryan and Kyle from Prince Edward County. The PECMH Foundation was pleased to be among this year’s recipients.