The babies at the Sturgeon Hospital are getting a pretty sweet ride, thanks to a recent grant from the St. Albert Community Foundation.
Last month, the foundation offered a $10,000 grant to acquire a transport unit for neonatal care.
Katrina Black, executive director of the Sturgeon Community Hospital Foundation, described the purpose of the new equipment that will supplement the existing unit.
"We needed another one."
It turns out that these transports are in demand and that demand is growing. The hospital serves a regional base of communities and a larger population than just the city itself. This is why it saw 2,800 babies delivered within its walls in 2011 alone.
"Our program is renowned," Black continued. "Our catchment area is not just St. Albert. People come from all over to have their babies."
She said that there have been increasing numbers of expectant mothers attending the hospital at 25 weeks, much lower than the usual 36 weeks.
"It is in those cases where the transport units are essential to stabilize and resuscitate the babies following delivery, until they are transported to the Royal Alex or the University of Alberta Hospitals for specialized care and observation."
The grant is another in a series of gifts from the St. Albert Community Foundation to the hospital. Its website at www.sacf.ca explains that the Thatcher Neonatal Care Fund is a donor-designated fund to be offered to charities that provide "support to the neonate including research & education."
More neonatal care equipment is always on the hospital's wish list.
"There always is. There's always a great need. With hospitals, things become obsolete and it doesn't take long with technology that you always want to continue on to have the biggest and the best for your patients. The list is always there."
Friendraiser to get more ‘Enjoy'able
The Sturgeon Community Hospital Foundation expects to get another cash boost next weekend when it hosts its 21st annual Friendraiser Gala.
"This will be our biggest and our best," promised Black.
The event, the foundation's main fundraiser, brought in $86,000 last year when it was held at its regular venue in an Edmonton hotel. There, attendance was a capacity crowd of 300, something that gave the foundation reason enough to find a bigger and closer function space.
"We sold out last year so it was an opportunity for us to come here and justify it."
This year it will be held at the Enjoy Centre on Saturday, Feb. 2. Tickets are $175 or $160 each if you buy a table of ten.
The space can hold up to 500 and the gala is already more than 80 per cent sold.
The program will include a multimedia production plus musical entertainment by Belle Rouge. Danny Hooper will conduct the auction in addition to being the emcee.
"We're doing really well. In my mind, we've really taken it to not just the next level but the next couple of levels."
New Series
The Gazette continues a new series on the St. Albert Community Foundation and the grants it provides to agencies and programs in the city. Stories in the series will appear each week for six weeks.
Previous stories in the series can be found at www.stalbertgazette.com.
