PEC Hospital Foundation elects new directors, chair

Welcomed to the hospital foundation board, back row, from left are: Dr. Michael Shannon, Ken Menlove, Cline Pierson, Dennis Darby, Monica Alyea (chair), Rachel Henry, John Walker, Liz Jones (PECMH Auxiliary President) and Sue Law. Front row, from left: Don Wakefield, Lillian Duffy, Leo Finnegan (past chair), Fran Donaldson (vice chair) and Paul Gallagher (treasurer).

The Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation celebrated successes of the past year and installed a new board and directors at its annual meeting Thursday.

The meeting highlighted the work the foundation and its donors have been doing to provide state-of-the-art equipment at the County hospital.

This past year, the foundation has funded essential equipment including an ECG machine, chemical and blood analyzers, eight vital signs monitors, as well as three colonoscopes and three gastroscopes for the regional Endoscopy Centre located at PECMH.

“This past fiscal year, thanks to the overwhelming support of our donors and partners, we transferred a phenomenal $350,000 to Quinte Health Care for medical equipment purchases for our County hospital,” said Penny Rolinski, executive director of the Foundation. “The generosity of our supporters is inspiring and heartwarming – you are all truly making a difference in the lives of our patients and their families right here in PEC.”

Along with the release of the foundation’s audited financial results, the group elected four new directors to its board, increasing the slate to 15. New directors include Rachel Henry, Dennis Darby, Don Wakefield and John Walker. They join returning directors, Leo Finnegan, Fran Donaldson, Cline Pierson, Monica Alyea, Sue Law, Lillian Duffy, Liz Jones, Sandra Foreman, Paul Gallagher, Ken Menlove and Dr. Michael Shannon.

At the general meeting directly following the public meeting, Monica Alyea was elected chair of the foundation replacing Leo Finnegan, who completed his three-year term. Finnegan remains a director on the board. Alyea has committed to a two-year term as chair. Fran Donaldson was elected vice-chair and Paul Gallagher was appointed treasurer.

“Leo has been a valued member of our board of directors since 2011 and our chair since June 2013. We thank him for his commitment to our County hospital and look forward to him remaining on the board as we work to build a new hospital in PEC,” said Rolinski. “We are pleased to welcome Monica as chair for the next two years. Monica has been a member of the board of directors since 2011 and she’s also served on several foundation committees. We believe her County-first approach to issues will be of great benefit to our foundation.”

It has been more than 20 years since the foundation has had a woman at the helm of the organization. The first female chair was Evelyn Drew in 1992 and shortly after, Ruth M. Hart in 1996.

“I’m very proud to be part of the philanthropic community that supports our County hospital,” said Alyea. “I’ve witnessed our hospital provide outstanding care to family members, friends, even to myself, in time of medical need. When illness strikes, we need effective health care and I want to ensure the latest technical and diagnostic services are available in Prince Edward County. It’s comforting to know that a great hospital with fine facilities is nearby, staffed and equipped to make a difference.”

Alyea, who previously served on County council, believes the County’s geography with more than 1,100 km of roads and a widely dispersed population plays an important role in ensuring hospital services are available to the community.

“Parts of Prince Edward County are closer to the United States than to Belleville. During my 10 years on municipal council representing the southern coastal area, I learned a lot about the importance and difficulty of ensuring services are available to our more remote and rural areas, which are becoming popular with new settlers as the place to live in the County,” she said.

The PECMH Foundation’s annual report for 2015/16 and the audited financial statements are to be available online by the first of the week at www.pecmhf.ca

The foundation is working to raise more than $200,000 for medical equipment purchases at PECMH and has a plethora of summer events lined up including their Passport to Canada wine tasting event on July 16 and Walt’s Sugar Shack Shindig on August 6 to help support their mission.