PICTON, April 27, 2023 – The Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation (PECMHF) in partnership with the Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Auxiliary (PECMHA) are pleased to announce that thanks to the generosity of donors, $300,000 has been raised through a matching gift incentive to help purchase a new x-ray machine for our County hospital.

This past fall, the hospital auxiliary committed to making a 1:1 match for all new donations to PECMHF’s x-ray campaign up to $150,000. Every gift made between October 21, 2022, and January 31, 2023 was matched dollar for dollar by the PECMHA. In total, the foundation has raised over $300,000 through this initiative.

“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. Over 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. The new x-ray will be used in the current hospital and will 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 over 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, we only have $86,191 left to raise for the x-ray.

“The PECMHF Board and Back the Build campaign cabinet were excited to partner with the auxiliary and support the purchase of the x-ray machine that is part of the $6M campaign for the major medical equipment and environmental sustainability enhancements planned for the new hospital,” said Nancy Parks, Back the Build campaign chairperson. “The generosity shown by the hospital auxiliary and the community members who contributed to the match has been absolutely extraordinary.”

“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.”

The Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to raising funds to advance health care for the patients of the hospital and the people of Prince Edward County.

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