This is thanks to people like you.  You understand how important it is to support your community hospital. 

With the Olympics on many people’s minds, it seems fitting to use an analogy to illustrate just how you help…  Olympic athletes need superior equipment and training in order to perform to their fullest potential.  And the teams with more resources to train their athletes tend to perform better.

The same holds true for your community hospital… The key to delivering excellent patient care is the ability to purchase the most up-to-date equipment.   With the best equipment, we can provide the best possible treatment.  With the best equipment, we can attract the brightest doctors and caregivers. 

But we can’t do it without you.  The government can only provide so much.  We rely on generous community members like you to help us stay on the cutting edge.

Our Olympic athletes strive each day to reach their ultimate level of performance.  Their highest honour is to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games.  So too, at Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, we strive each day to deliver the highest quality treatment to our patients.  And when our patients tell us they’re happy with the treatment they’ve received, that’s our version of a gold medal!

Dave and Nancy Batchelor know all about the importance of performing to your full potential, since their son Jeff is an Olympic snowboarder!

But that might not have been the case…

When Jeff was four, a high fever caused him to experience severe seizures.  Extremely worried and with their family doctor out of town, Dave and Nancy rushed Jeff to the ER at Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. 

At first, doctors weren’t sure what was wrong with Jeff.  They weren’t even sure if he would survive. 

As you can probably imagine, this was terrifying news for his parents to hear.

Thankfully, a few days later Jeff began to get better… and his doctors diagnosed him with severe asthma. 

Since that frightening day, the Batchelor family has spent a lot of time at Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital.  Jeff got better but he often needed hospitalization for his severe asthma attacks and bronchitis.

Jeff is now healthier and more active than most people his age.  He’s overcome some terrific odds to become a world-class athlete.  And since his asthma is more manageable in crisp, cold air, snowboarding is the perfect sport for Jeff!

Dave and Nancy are so proud of their son.  And they are so very grateful for generous people like you…  People who support Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital with financial donations. 

With your support in 2010, you can help purchase the following items on our list of needs:

• 26 Glucose Meters ($2,500 each): These monitor a patient’s blood glucose levels, particularly important to managing medications with patients hospitalized with diabetes-related issues such as a cardiac episode or dialysis.  By 2010, 3 million Canadians will have diabetes – almost 1 in 10 – so the need for equipment like this is growing all the time.
• 2 Rigid Cystoscopes ($8,183 each):  These tools are used to perform essential surgical procedures on the bladder and urethra.
• 1 Cardiac Monitor ($9,819):  We need one more cardiac monitor for the ER.  This vital machine monitors a patient’s heart rate and breathing.

Dave and Nancy know that people like you are the reason OTMH has the best possible equipment and some of the best and brightest doctors and caregivers.  People like you help ensure OTMH can provide high quality treatment and care close to home. 

Remember the analogy of our Olympic athletes…  Like these athletes, your community hospital needs to continually update and upgrade our equipment in order to stay in top shape.  

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Lorne Martin
Chief of Staff, Halton Healthcare Services