ABOYNE – Groves Hospital Foundation is pleased to announce a generous $42,000 donation made by Belwood Lake Cottagers’ Association (BLCA). The donation is directed to purchase a new colonoscope for Endoscopy at Groves Memorial Community Hospital (GMCH).
This marks the second major donation from the group of local cottagers, towards improvements at the rural hospital. BLCA first donated $10,000 towards the New Groves Hospital Campaign in 2016.
The BLCA held their annual AGM on June 14th and voted unanimously to donate to Groves Hospital Foundation. Their gift brings their total giving in support of local patient care to $52,000. Representatives of the BLCA, John Hamilton, Director of Communications, and Keith McKee, Board Chair, visited Groves on July 24th to officially present the donation to Foundation Executive Director, Lori Arsenault.
Arsenault said, “The Belwood Lake Cottagers’ Association reached out to me in May to discuss the idea of funding a new item at our hospital. They chose to fund the new colonoscope, since it is such a vitally important and widely used item. We are so grateful for the continued support of the
BLCA and their choice of Groves for this generous gift.”
The new colonoscope, 100% funded by BLCA’s donation, will be used by surgeons at Groves to perform colonoscopies. A colonoscopy is an endoscopic procedure used to examine the colon to screen for and diagnose colon cancer, as well as look for causes of many other digestive issues in patients. Last year, there were 2,033 endoscopic procedures performed at Groves. This will enhance endoscopic care for patients, close to home, at GMCH.
The BLCA is a non-profit organization consisting of 300+ Members, all of whom are Belwood Lake Cottagers. They are overseen by a Board of Directors consisting of 11 volunteers,.
Groves Hospital Foundation fundraises annually to meet the ongoing needs of GMCH. This year’s funding request totals $2.7M for infrastructure/building repairs and upgrades, technological tools, and new/ replacement equipment items across the hospital.
