HyLife President and CEO Grant Lazaruk presents HDHF Executive Director Lorrie Bunko with $50,000 cheque. (Facebook/Humboldt District Hospital Foundation)

By Angie Rolheiser

Hospital improvements

HyLife and BHP donate to Humboldt District Hospital Foundation

May 28, 2020 | 11:21 AM

Relief, shock and perfect timing were all words used by the executive director of the Humboldt District Hospital Foundation (HDHF) to describe two recent donations.

The foundation was on the receiving end of two large cheques over the last week.

Mining giant, BHP contributed $65,000 to the foundation to purchase a chemistry analyzer for the lab department.

HDHF Executive Director Lorrie Bunko told northeastNOW the analyzer is essential to the hospital.

“About 70 per cent of all medical decisions are based on lab results that come from this analyzer so it is a very important piece of equipment within the hospital,” Bunko said.

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Bunko added the needs of the hospital didn’t go away once the COVID-19 pandemic came into play. Instead, they increased, she said.

This specific piece of equipment has been on the foundation’s radar for a couple of years.

“The existing one has been aging rapidly and they have been repairing and trying to get it to its end of life as much as they could but it was time to be replaced,” Bunko said.

With a large equipment list at the best of times, Bunko admits the task of trying to generate funds for new equipment during a world pandemic seemed daunting.

“I thought ‘how are we going to purchase any equipment with where the economy is going and where it could go?'” Bunko said. “When BHP reached out it was a shock, it was a relief. It was perfect timing.”

In a media release from BHP, President Giles Hellyer said donations like this one are considered essential.

“It is important the communities that surround our projects and offices have access to leading medical services for the overall health and wellbeing of local residents,” Hellyer said.

A $50,000 donation from Manitoba-based pork producer HyLife came in on Friday, May 21.

“They wanted to reach out to communities in which they have barns in and support employees, and the health care in those districts and asked what our needs were,” Bunko said.

The HDHF was set to launch a $350,000 cardiac equipment campaign in the fall so HyLife decided to gift funds toward that goal.

All cardiac monitoring equipment will need to be replaced in the hospital by April 2022.

“We have to modify and re-work how we will do the campaign, we can’t hold off on it. April 2022 is going to come fast and we need to be able to have reliable equipment within the hospital,” Bunko said.

The challenge for the foundation members will be coming up with a strategic way to raise funds during these difficult times.

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angie.rolheiser@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Angie_Rolheiser