By Rik Ganderton,
RVHS President and CEO
A bed is synonymous with comfort. When you’re sick it can be crucially important to restoring your health.
For whatever reason you find yourself as a patient in the hospital, you will probably be using a bed. The Rouge Valley Centenary Buy a Bed campaign is our challenge to restore comfort and health, one bed at a time as we replace older beds in the hospital.
Replacement beds have been identified as a high-priority need for many departments in the hospital. Beds cost about $5,000 each. Medical beds play a vital role in patient recovery, and in wound and injury prevention. The specialized mattress and frame in a medical bed is built for a lot of use. Special features include patient position monitors and in-bed scales to reduce both patient and caregiver injuries. These elements make them much more expensive than household beds.
The goal of the campaign is to purchase 100 beds during the next two years. This is an achievable goal and we are already well on our way with 45 beds purchased.
I am excited about this campaign, since it is something that everyone is able to easily identify with. The response of the community has been tremendous and we are so thankful for this support. I am also very proud of staff members at Rouge Valley Centenary, who have demonstrated their incredible support of the campaign.
We currently have 67 staff members who have enrolled in payroll deduction and those who have made outright donations. I personally support this campaign, of course.
There are many ways to support the campaign as an individual, or as a group, including sports teams and as colleagues at work. You can help restore comfort and health, one bed at a time. To find out more on this campaign, please visit the RVHS Foundation's Buy-A-Bed web page.