Each year, Peace Arch Hospital Auxiliary is asked to fund purchase of new equipment for the hospital.
This is a long process that takes several months and involves many people.
The auxiliary funds the purchase of many types of equipment, from the very specialized surgical items to other things like wheelchairs.
We have also helped in funding some very expensive items such as the MRI and the maternity renovation. These took several years to fund and were both done in collaboration with other funding partners.
It starts out with a group of people from many departments who bring a wish list of items that should be purchased.
These items are then scrutinized by the department heads to identify their equipment priorities.
All the equipment at the hospital can only be procured by Hospital Supply Services of BC, a government agency.
This agency supplies all the hospitals in BC. It makes sure that all our equipment meets the strict standards that are so necessary in a hospital. These include having appropriate warranties, meeting strict clinical and infection control standards.
All equipment must conform to strict electrical standards.
As this is the supplier of our equipment we are often able to get a discount on some items due to group purchasing.
When a list of equipment is prepared it is then reviewed to prioritize what are the most important items to purchase.
When all of this has been accomplished, the auxiliary and Peace Arch Hospital Foundation are asked to purchase specific items.
We can be certain that when we are asked to spend our donations that a huge amount of work has been done to make sure that we are only asked to purchase only the most important items that are needed.
This process is done to ensure that everything that we are asked to fund is absolutely necessary for the hospital.
It is done with integrity to ensure that these items are vetted properly.
There are people who donate money to the auxiliary who wish to purchase items for the hospital. Their donations are used to purchase equipment from this list.
We can be assured that over the past 65 years and after donating approximately 11 million dollars to the Hospital, all our donations are spent wisely.
The auxiliary is audited by a reputable CA firm to make sure that all our accounting follows the highest standards.
We are proud to conduct ourselves in an ethical manner so that every penny donated to us is used in the best possible way.
If you would like to volunteer to the Hospital Auxiliary please contact us through www.pahas.ca
Felicity Matthews writes monthly on behalf of the Peace Arch Hospital Auxiliary.