The Foundation of Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) is pleased to announce that the 25th Annual Christmas Wish Tree Appeal has raised an outstanding $130,451 for the recently launched $6.9 million CKHA Diagnostic Imaging Equipment Renewal Campaign – the largest fundraising total to date for this appeal since it began in 1989.
Christmas Wish Tree has become a cherished tradition in our community. Through this annual appeal, residents of Chatham-Kent are able to publicly honour or remember a family member, friend, colleague and/or business by making a donation to illuminate a blue, silver or gold Christmas Wish Tree light in support of local healthcare.
“We, at the Foundation of CKHA, would once again like to extend our gratitude to the residents of Chatham-Kent for their outstanding support of our new campaign through this year’s Christmas Wish Tree Appeal,” says Michele Grzebien-Huckson, Executive Director, Foundation of CKHA. “The response to this year’s appeal was fantastic and we are so thrilled that the community is supportive of this important campaign and our efforts to bring new state-of-the-art diagnostic imaging equipment to our local hospitals. Thank you for your generosity and ongoing support – we are very grateful.”
In addition to the tremendous generosity of the residents of Chatham-Kent, the Foundation of CKHA would like to thank The Chatham Daily News; the Wallaceburg Courier Press; Delhaven Orchards; Chatham-Kent Tree Care; Marge and Tom Turner; and the numerous volunteers who helped us with this appeal, for their support, through sponsorship and in-kind donations, of this year’s Christmas Wish Tree Appeal.
About the CKHA Diagnostic Imaging Equipment Renewal Campaign
As part of the Foundation of CKHA’s directive to raise funds to support CKHA’s Highest Priority Needs, the CKHA Diagnostic Imaging Equipment Renewal Campaign has been launched to support CKHA in the purchase of new diagnostic imaging equipment for CKHA’s Diagnostic Imaging Department.
The need to replace this diagnostic imaging equipment has become an urgent priority for CKHA as the equipment is quickly reaching ‘end of life’ and needs to be replaced to ensure that CKHA’s current and future Physicians and healthcare professionals have the best diagnostic tools available, leading to faster diagnoses and ultimately better care for our patients.
Phase 1 of this campaign will focus on the purchase a new Fluoroscopy System, a new CT Scan, new Ultrasound Equipment and a new Bone Densitometer for CKHA’s Diagnostic Imaging Department at the Chatham and Sydenham Campuses. These four key pieces of equipment serve almost every program offered at CKHA and are key for diagnoses in a multitude of cases, including heart, stroke, cancer, orthopaedics, rehabilitation, obstetrics, gynecology and urology, just to name a few.
Even though this equipment is considered essential for care at CKHA, as with all capital equipment needs at our local hospitals, the purchase of this equipment is not supported through government funding.
To date, more than $2.3 million has been raised for this important campaign.
About the Foundation of Chatham-Kent Health Alliance
The Foundation of Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) was established in 1998 to enhance the quality of healthcare available to the citizens of Chatham-Kent by raising funds and providing other resources to support CKHA. It accomplishes this through annual campaigns, capital and endowment campaigns, memorial giving, special events and planned giving. To date, the Foundation of CKHA has raised over $37 million for local healthcare.
