Tesla chargers latest lure for doctors
Tesla chargers latest lure for doctors
Hospital thanks donors who paid for new CT scanner and much, much more
Our hospital is old and needs to be replaced, but it now has the latest trendy gadget to attract and retain physicians – two Tesla EV charging stations.
And it is working.
President and CEO Jeff Hohenkerk mentioned the EV chargers during a presentation on Wednesday, April 10 during which he gave an update on renovations and new equipment and on the never-ending effort to persuade the province to approve a new hospital.
The main goal of the celebration at the Grand Maple Event Centre in Hastings was to thank community donors who have raised more than $2 million for a new CT scanner, that will go into service next Tuesday, and $4.5 million of the $8 million goal for the five-year Transforming Care Together campaign.
Hohenkerk said many of the physicians who do shifts at the hospital come from Toronto or Ottawa and several drive Teslas. The hospital had one charging unit but recently realized it would be a good idea to add a second one. “Believe it or not it actually attracts physicians to come because they can charge their vehicles for the drive back home,” he said.
In his comments thanking donors, John Russell, Executive Director of the Campbellford Memorial Hospital Foundation, gave special thanks to Bill and Bob Scott.
Russell said the brothers, who farmed together near Meyersburg for their entire lives, “would come in together prior to Christmas each year to make a donation and they talked about their passion for the community and for the hospital. Bob passed away in 2018 and we lost Bill in 2023. In his estate he left a significant gift to the hospital for the CT scanner, as well as support for the new hospital project. We are honoured and humbled with his support.”
He also thanked the John M. & Bernice Parrott Foundation and announced the Diagnostics Services department has been named after them, in recognition of their assistance. Since 2008 the foundation has donated more than $1 million to the hospital.
Lyle Vanclief, President of the Parrott Foundation, said its main focus is on improving life in the Quinte area, but the organization knows that many people from there are helped by Campbellford Memorial.
Russell also thanked Janice Eichner, who made a donation in memory of her husband Karl.
He noted that the hospital foundation has a new slogan, Giving Changes Everything, new logo, and revamped website.
Brittany Pye, senior radiation technologist at the hospital, thanked the donors who helped purchase the new CT scanner and explained how it will help the department provide better and quicker care to patients for many years to come.
Pye noted that being without a scanner in recent months, while the new one was being installed, was “like going back to the bad old days” when patients had to be sent by ambulance to other facilities.
Hohenkerk, who started his medical career as a radiation specialist, said the new scanner will be “faster and better.” He noted that 14 years ago when he was working at the Rouge Valley Health System in Scarborough he helped managers at Campbellford Memorial develop their business case for purchasing the first CT scanner.
Turning to the issue of a new facility, Hohenkerk explained that Campbellford Memorial is awaiting a planning grant from the health ministry of about $3 million which would signal that it is in the queue to build a new facility.
“I believe it is going to happen, there is a lot of support,” he said. The challenge is convincing the Ford government that we should be one of the next communities to get a planning grant.
“This will happen, it’s not a matter of if, it’s when,” he said to applause.