Hospital auxiliary matches donations to help buy an x-ray machine

Pictured at the Hospital Auxiliary’s Second Time Around Shop in Picton are representatives from both the PECMH Foundation and PECMH Auxiliary. – Briar Boyce photo

Thanks to the generosity of more than 500 donors, $300,000 has been raised through a matching gift incentive to help purchase a new x-ray machine for the County’s hospital.

This past fall, the Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Auxiliary committed to making a 1:1 match for all new donations to the hospital foundation’s x-ray campaign up to $150,000.

Every gift made between Oct. 21 and Jan. 31 was matched dollar for dollar by the PECMHA. In total, the foundation to reach the $300,000 goal.

“We are incredibly thankful to our community members for their enthusiastic response to supporting this matching gift initiative,” said Shannon Coull, executive director of the PECMH Foundation. “We are deeply committed to providing exceptional health care for the hospital, staff, our community, and the donations given for the x-ray machine had twice the impact, thanks to the auxiliary.”

This fundraising initiative set out to inspire community giving. More than 560 individual gifts received the 1:1 match.

“Every amount that was donated, big or small, helped us reach this incredible achievement,” said Cathy Starkey, president of the PECMH Auxiliary. “It was clear from the start that this community is incredibly supportive of the hospital. The donors who were inspired to give through the match have demonstrated just how much having leading edge diagnostic imaging equipment in Prince Edward County means to them.”

Over the 2022/23 fiscal year, the foundation was charged with raising close to $600,000 to purchase a new x-ray machine and renovate the space in the current hospital where the x-ray machine resides.

The diagnostic imaging device is set to arrive at Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital (PECMH) sometime in May and will be used in the current hospital and transition into Prince Edward County’s new hospital in 2027.

At PECMH, the x-ray machine is used daily. The team of radiologists and Medical Radiation Technologists (MRT) rely on the current x-ray machine to perform more than 8,800 exams each year.

The Foundation is grateful to the Auxiliary for helping to boost the campaign. Because of their support and the support from the community, there is just $86,191 left to raise to pay for the machine.

“It is amazing what can be accomplished when we work together,” said Coull. “Donors should never underestimate the impact they have. Every gift, no matter the size, gets us closer to our goal of having a new hospital in Prince Edward County equipped with the latest and greatest technology, and every donor brings our community closer together.”