S4 E6 A Doctor’s Cancer Journey: From Healing to Hope
Cancer journeys can begin in many different ways, with symptoms often appearing to be minor: a seemingly innocent skin mole that starts changing colour or size; an annoyingly persistent cough; or inexplicable weight loss.
“I was in the operating room at Peace Arch Hospital getting ready for a day of surgery. And alongside me was one of my surgical colleagues. And he noted that I had an unusual mole on the left side of my back. And he said, Roy, it looks a little unusual and you should probably get it taken care of.”
In this special episode of Power to Heal, our sole guest, a doctor himself, has not only personally experienced the sometimes easy-to-miss early warning signs of cancer, but also the all-too common heartbreak of a repeat cancer diagnosis after initially believing the disease was in his past.
What makes Dr. Roy Jackson’s journey especially poignant is its reminder that cancer can impact anyone, anywhere, anytime—including medical professionals. But his story is also about hope and determination, as an experienced doctor turns his life-saving skills from the operating room to the world of cancer research and promising new treatments.
In a powerful interview, Dr. Jackson, a former obstetrician and gynecological surgeon at Peace Arch Hospital, speaks openly about not only the life-altering reality of his cancer diagnosis, but also his determined advocacy for both innovation in cancer treatments, and the philanthropy that drives them forward.
Guests:
Power to Heal is hosted by Lance Peverley, a former newspaper reporter, editor of the Peace Arch News for 12 years, and a longtime resident of the White Rock/South Surrey area.
About the Power to Heal podcast:
Presented by Peace Arch Hospital Foundation in White Rock, British Columbia, Power to Heal takes you behind the scenes of an innovative hospital Foundation and introduces you to the team who find new and sometimes surprising ways to engage with the local community and help fund the best healthcare possible in the region.
Since 1988, the Foundation has raised over $250 million for capital projects, medical equipment, and community health programs. Its passionate and caring team’s number one priority is the prudent stewardship of your gifts and the resulting positive impact on patients and medical staff at Peace Arch Hospital and the entire White Rock-South Surrey community.
Download Power to Heal wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Links:
Peace Arch News: “From doctor to patient: Dr. Roy Jackson's melanoma journey”
Support the Peace Arch Hospital Foundation’s commitment to delivering the highest quality of care. Make a donation today.
Easing the way in the ER for kids (and grownups)
A visit to the hospital’s emergency department can be stressful for anyone, but for children it’s downright terrifying. All the strange sounds, smells and equipment in this unfamiliar place only heighten the fear an ill or injured child is already experiencing.
But an ER doctor at Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock, British Columbia, is determined to change all that. Using an innovative combination of high-tech and what might be called “no-tech,” he is shifting his youngest patients’ focus from needles and sutures to absorbing virtual reality roller coaster rides, helpful little robots—and a puppet named “Magrau.”
In this episode of Power to Heal, you’ll also learn how Dr. Amir Behboudi’s determination to improve the ER patient experience isn’t limited to children: he’s been the driving force behind an inexpensive treatment that is offered in PAH’s emergency room to reduce feelings of nausea in adult patients waiting for treatment.
Dr. Behboudi’s story begins with a trip to a neighbouring emergency room with his own son. What he experienced there inspired a technique that, with support from the Peace Arch Hospital Foundation, is capturing the attention of local media—and other hospitals in the area.
Guests:
Power to Heal is hosted by Lance Peverley, a former newspaper reporter, editor of the Peace Arch News for 12 years, and a longtime resident of the White Rock/South Surrey area.
About the Power to Heal podcast:
Presented by Peace Arch Hospital Foundation in White Rock, British Columbia, Power to Heal takes you behind the scenes of an innovative hospital Foundation and introduces you to the team who find new and sometimes surprising ways to engage with the local community and help fund the best healthcare possible in the region.
Since 1988, the Foundation has raised over $250 million for capital projects, medical equipment, and community health programs. Its passionate and caring team’s number one priority is the prudent stewardship of your gifts and the resulting positive impact on patients and medical staff at Peace Arch Hospital and the entire White Rock-South Surrey community.
Download Power to Heal wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Links:
Peace Arch News: Making the ER less scary for kids
Global News: “New anti-nausea treatment”
Support this and many other innovative programs and initiatives at Peace Arch Hospital. Visit www.pahfoundation.ca/ways-to-give/ to learn more.
PAH S4 E4 – Show notes
Portable Pain Management
“One of the biggest risks of delirium in hip fracture patients is pain management—and we usually treat that pain with narcotics and sedatives. And of course, too much narcotics and too much sedatives also leads to delirium. So it's a real fine line between our treatment and the disease itself.”
Imagine visiting an elderly family member or friend who has just undergone hip surgery, but instead of the tired but smiling face you expect to see, you’re greeted by a stranger. This person looks like someone you know well, but their behaviour is completely different: they seem agitated, irritable and belligerent, or perhaps lethargic and confused.
This is post-operative delirium. And while this condition may have a number of causes, one of the most common is from the use of narcotic pain killers—a necessary measure to counteract the often-excruciating pain associated with hip fractures.
But thanks to a generous donation by one couple, patients with hip fractures at Peace Arch Hospital now have a lower risk of complications, including delirium, from the use of narcotic pain management. It’s all thanks to a leading-edge portable ultrasound, no bigger than a laptop computer, that guides pinpoint delivery of targeted nerve-blocking anesthesia while avoiding nearby structures.
In this episode of Power to Heal you’ll meet a passionate advocate for this revolutionary, portable technology that allows physicians to implement nerve blocks wherever necessary in the hospital—and in the process, is transforming a small, community-based medical centre into a leader of intraoperative and postoperative pain management.
Guests:
Dr. Marshall Cheng, Department Head of Anesthesiology, Peace Arch Hospital
Sean Kenny, Philanthropy Officer, Leadership Giving, PAH
Power to Heal is hosted by Lance Peverley, a former newspaper reporter, editor of the Peace Arch News for 12 years, and a longtime resident of the White Rock/South Surrey area.
About the Power to Heal podcast:
Presented by Peace Arch Hospital Foundation in White Rock, British Columbia, Power to Heal takes you behind the scenes of an innovative hospital Foundation and introduces you to the team who find new and sometimes surprising ways to engage with the local community and help fund the best healthcare possible in the region.
Since 1988, the Foundation has raised over $250 million for capital projects, medical equipment, and community health programs. Its passionate and caring team’s number one priority is the prudent stewardship of your gifts and the resulting positive impact on patients and medical staff at Peace Arch Hospital and the entire White Rock-South Surrey community.
Download Power to Heal wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Link:
Discover the many ways you can make the greatest impact on your hospital and your community of White Rock/South Surrey. Visit www.pahfoundation.ca/ways-to-give/ to learn more.
PAH S4 E3
Putting the Hospital in “Hospitality”
A visitor to the kitchen at Peace Arch Hospital would likely be surprised to discover that very little food preparation and cooking is taking place. Warm expectations of clanging pots and pans and tantalizing aromas from freshly prepared soups and sauces would be quickly cooled by the sterile, industrial environment that actually exists.
That’s because Peace Arch, like many hospitals, converted to a “prepared and retherm” kitchen model a number of years ago (“retherm” refers to pre-cooked, mass-produced meals that are purchased from a supplier and then reheated onsite prior to serving).
Initially viewed as a lower-cost, more efficient alternative to a full production kitchen, over time the retherm process has come to be seen as anything but practical: the ageing refrigeration and heating equipment required for retherm is expensive to maintain, and food waste from the tasteless, unappealing meals that are returned mostly untouched from the hospital wards is staggering.
There’s also a human cost to retherm meals, as patients—some already arriving malnourished at the hospital—take longer to heal due to a lack of fresh, healthy meal options.
But all that will be changing as the Peace Arch Hospital Foundation gears up for a $5-million-dollar campaign to bring back chef-approved freshly prepared dishes courtesy of a state-of-the-art full production kitchen. As you’ll hear in this episode, the new facility will be based on a philosophy of “food as medicine” to help speed patient recovery while providing custom menu options for those with specific dietary or cultural food requirements.
Guests:
Chef Matthew Richmond - Manager of Support Services and Food Operations, Fraser Health
Chef Steven Courtney – Culinary Food Services Lead, Fraser Health
Amy O’Leary – Director of Philanthropy, Peace Arch Hospital Foundation
Power to Heal is hosted by Lance Peverley, a former newspaper reporter, editor of the Peace Arch News for 12 years, and a longtime resident of the White Rock/South Surrey area.
About the Power to Heal podcast:
Presented by Peace Arch Hospital Foundation in White Rock, British Columbia, Power to Heal takes you behind the scenes of an innovative hospital Foundation and introduces you to the team who find new and sometimes surprising ways to engage with the local community and help fund the best healthcare possible in the region.
Since 1988, the Foundation has raised over $250 million for capital projects, medical equipment, and community health programs. Its passionate and caring team’s number one priority is the prudent stewardship of your gifts and the resulting positive impact on patients and medical staff at Peace Arch Hospital and the entire White Rock-South Surrey community.
Download Power to Heal wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Links:
Media release: “Reimagining Food in Health Care: Healing Starts Here”
Donate here for the Peace Arch Hospital Foundation’s production kitchen campaign.
“Planning Your Legacy”
“I always say that estate planning is for everyone. That's because at the end of the day, no one lives
forever, and anyone can experience an accident or illness that renders them incapable.”
- Grace Cleveland, lawyer (Estate Planning, Administration and Litigation)
It’s something that too many people put off until, sadly, it’s too late. And without it, your hopes of
leaving a thoughtful legacy for your loved ones might never be realized.
“It” is a properly crafted will, your final statement on what should happen to the assets and financial
resources you’ve accumulated by the end of your life. But even beyond that, your will can continue to
make an impact long after your passing -- especially when you include a legacy gift to a charitable
organization that reflects the causes you care about the most.
In much the same way we would prepare for a long outdoor adventure trip, our journey through life can
seem a little less uncertain when we make a thoughtful estate plan sooner rather than later. For
younger people, especially, this may all seem a bit premature. But stop and think about what would
happen if tragedy or illness struck, and your life was cut short. Who would take care of your children? Or
your pets? Or any business ventures you’re involved in?
This episode of Power to Heal will help demystify what goes into planning your estate, why preparing a
will isn’t just for older people, and how—sometimes--bad things can happen when your good intentions
aren’t captured in a clearly written will and estate plan.
Note: The topics discussed in this episode of Power to Heal are intended for educational purposes only.
Please consult a lawyer to discuss your individual estate planning needs.
Guests:
- Grace Cleveland – Lawyer and Vice Chair of Peace Arch Hospital Foundation Board of Directors
- Selina Lai – PAHF Philanthropy Officer, Legacy Giving
Power to Heal is hosted by Lance Peverley, a former newspaper reporter, editor of the Peace Arch News
for 12 years, and a longtime resident of the White Rock/South Surrey area.
About the Power to Heal podcast:
Presented by Peace Arch Hospital Foundation in White Rock, British Columbia, Power to Heal takes you
behind the scenes of an innovative hospital Foundation and introduces you to the team who find new
and sometimes surprising ways to engage with the local community and help fund the best healthcare
possible in the region.
Since 1988, the Foundation has raised over $250 million for capital projects, medical equipment, and
community health programs. Its passionate and caring team’s number one priority is the prudent
stewardship of your gifts and the resulting positive impact on patients and medical staff at Peace Arch
Hospital and the entire White Rock-South Surrey community.
Download Power to Heal wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Links: Learn more about Grace Cleveland: https://www.clevelanddoan.com/team/grace-cleveland
To leave a legacy gift for Peace Arch Hospital, visit https://www.pahfoundation.ca/ways-to-give/leave-a-
gift-in-my-will/
Hospital Auxiliary
Bake sales, thrift shops, and nice retired ladies from the local community. If those are your first impressions when you hear the words “hospital auxiliary,” you would be only partly right. In what might be described as a warm embrace, the Peace Arch Hospital Auxiliary surrounds the healthcare centre it supports with thoughtful patient comforts and medical equipment that might not ordinarily be within the scope of the hospital’s budget—things like a new portable ventilator, residential care busses, and a patient hair salon—as well as contributing to major campaigns for essential upgrades to PAH’s emergency department and maternity ward.
More than anything, however, the Peace Arch Hospital Auxiliary provides that extra human touch that can make such an important difference in a patient’s stay at the hospital: refurbishing family waiting areas, easing the transition from hospital ward back to home, and encouraging young school children from the area to write sweet (and often unintentionally humorous) valentine’s cards to patients and staff.
As the Peace Arch Hospital Auxiliary celebrates its 76th anniversary (which is six years older than the hospital itself), this episode of Power to Heal will explore the organization’s very earliest days, when young (and sometimes pregnant) wives would trudge along unpaved roads to collect donations towards a badly needed resource in the White Rock community: its own hospital. Along the way, we’ll also learn how a community-oriented, grassroots organization like the PAH Auxiliary can help connect a busy, sometimes inward-looking healthcare centre with the very people that may one day rely on it.
Guests:
This episode of Power to Heal also introduces the podcast’s new host, Lance Peverley, a former newspaper reporter, editor of the Peace Arch News for 12 years, and a longtime resident of the White Rock/South Surrey area.
About the Power to Heal podcast:
Presented by Peace Arch Hospital Foundation in White Rock, British Columbia, Power to Heal takes you behind the scenes of an innovative hospital Foundation and introduces you to the team who find new and sometimes surprising ways to engage with the local community and help fund the best healthcare possible in the region.
Since 1988, the Foundation has raised over $250 million for capital projects, medical equipment, and community health programs. Its passionate and caring team’s number one priority is the prudent stewardship of your gifts and the resulting positive impact on patients and medical staff at Peace Arch Hospital and the entire White Rock-South Surrey community.
Download Power to Heal wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Links:
Peace Arch Hospital Auxiliary (official site)
For more information about the Peace Arch Hospital Foundation, or to make a donation, visit pahfoundation.ca
For social:
Bake sales, thrift shops, and nice retired ladies from the local community: if those are your first impressions when you hear the words “hospital auxiliary,” you would be only partly right. In what might be described as a warm embrace, the Peace Arch Hospital Auxiliary surrounds the healthcare centre it supports with thoughtful patient comforts and medical equipment that might not ordinarily be within the scope of the hospital’s budget. More than anything, however, the Peace Arch Hospital Auxiliary provides that extra human touch that can make such an important difference in a patient’s stay at the hospital. As the Peace Arch Hospital Auxiliary celebrates its 76th anniversary, this episode of Power to Heal will explore the organization’s very earliest days, when young (and sometimes pregnant) wives would trudge along unpaved roads to collect donations towards a badly needed resource in the White Rock community: its own hospital. Along the way, we’ll also learn how a community-oriented, grassroots organization like the PAH Auxiliary can help connect a busy, sometimes inward-looking healthcare centre with the very people that may one day rely on it.
#givingback #peacearchhospital #hospitalauxiliary
When emergencies occur, we rely on local teams of dedicated professionals to get to the scene fast – and first. That’s why police officers, paramedics, firefighters and other emergency personnel are known as first responders. These are the people with the training, skills and equipment that you want to see first when the unthinkable happens and disaster strikes.
But for many first responders, that dedication to helping those most in need doesn’t simply get switched off at the end of a shift. It continues on in the form of giving back – of making the communities they live and work in healthier and safer. And in BC’s White Rock/South Surrey, it’s led two groups of firefighters to pose a challenge to the citizens of the area: “Help us make a difference.”
Following up on their generous contribution to the new Mental Health and Substance Use Zone in Peace Arch Hospital’s expanded Emergency Department, the Surrey and White Rock Fire Fighters Charitable Associations are back on the donation front lines again to address another crucial need at PAH: new Medical Imaging Technology. This urgently needed state-of-the-art equipment will allow clinicians to better triage patients in both acute care and chronic disease, paving the way for imaging-guided interventions and optimized treatment planning.
In this episode of Power to Heal, we’ll learn how this medical imaging technology campaign adds a twist to the firefighters’ usual approach to fund-raising. We’ll also go deeper to find out what motivates these “heroes among us” to extend their collaboration with the hospital’s healthcare professionals from emergency situations to the long-term wellbeing of the entire community.
Guests:
- Dylan Van Rooyen, Vice President - Surrey Fire Fighters Association & Surrey Fire Fighters Charitable Society
- Amy O’Leary, Director of Philanthropy with Peace Arch Hospital Foundation
The Power to Heal is hosted by veteran broadcaster and long-time White Rock/South Surrey resident, Wayne Cox.
About the Power to Heal podcast:
Presented by Peace Arch Hospital Foundation in White Rock, British Columbia, Power to Heal takes you behind the scenes of an innovative hospital Foundation and introduces you to the team who find new and sometimes surprising ways to engage with the local community and help fund the best healthcare possible in the region.
Since 1988, the Foundation has raised over $210 million for capital projects, medical equipment, and community health programs. Its passionate and caring team’s number one priority is the prudent stewardship of your gifts and the resulting positive impact on patients and medical staff at Peace Arch Hospital and the entire White Rock-South Surrey community.
Download Power to Heal wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Links:
Surrey Fire Fighters’ Charitable Society
For more information about the Peace Arch Hospital Foundation, or to make a donation, visit pahfoundation.ca
The White Rock/South Surrey area is home to many New Canadians worldwide, including a significant community with roots in China. Like all newcomers to this country, Chinese Canadians can often experience an unsettling transition to their new surroundings, encountering language barriers, strange customs, and, in general, a different way of life that may seem confusing and counter-intuitive to the one they knew in their former country.
Perhaps one of the more bewildering aspects of Canadian life for Chinese immigrants is the one they are most likely to encounter at some point: our provincial healthcare systems, and their reliance on donations and fundraising for new equipment and facilities. For those accustomed to tightly controlled healthcare structures, such as those in China, navigating the somewhat disjointed Canadian system – with its long wait times and aging equipment – must add to any feelings of anxiety and isolation they are already experiencing in their adopted homeland.
However, as we’ll explore in this episode of Power to Heal, there is a way for Chinese Canadians and others new to this country to become better connected and more engaged citizens – and it begins with the simple act of giving.
Guests:
The Power to Heal is hosted by veteran broadcaster and long-time White Rock/South Surrey resident, Wayne Cox.
Presented by Peace Arch Hospital Foundation in White Rock, British Columbia, the Power to Heal podcast takes you behind the scenes of an innovative hospital Foundation. It introduces you to the team who find new and sometimes surprising ways to engage with the local community and help fund the best healthcare possible in the region.
Since 1988, the Foundation has raised over $210 million for capital projects, medical equipment, and community health programs. Its passionate and caring team’s priority is the prudent stewardship of your gifts and the resulting positive impact on patients and medical staff at Peace Arch Hospital and the entire White Rock-South Surrey community.
Download Power to Heal wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Links:
Peace Arch News: Local Chinese Canadians aim to counter COVID-19 backlash
For more information about the Peace Arch Hospital Foundation, or to donate, visit pahfoundation.ca
The sounds of a busy hospital kitchen have changed over the years, including at Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock BC. New technology and pre-packaged meals, introduced for greater efficiency and cost-savings, have somewhat muted the clanging of pots and pans. But there’s a new movement underway to return to an old concept: full-service food production, with meals prepared from scratch. In this episode of Power to Heal, you’ll learn why these “production kitchens,” as they’re called, are making a comeback – and how they can play a major role in creating shorter hospital stays and improved patient outcomes.
Here’s a hint: It’s all about choice.
Back in the 1990s, the Canada Food Guide – designed to help Canadians make better, more nutritional food choices – featured a simple, four-colour scheme representing a balanced diet. Variety of choice, it appeared, was in short supply. Later editions of the Food Guide acknowledged that a one-size-fits-all approach didn’t address the complexities of Canada’s rapidly changing demographics, with dietary needs based on age, religion, and cultural considerations increasingly coming to the fore.
This posed a problem for kitchens in healthcare settings, many of which had been caught up in the trend toward lower-cost pre-packaged meals, known as “retherme.” But lately, and especially in countries like the United States and Great Britain, there has been a return to the “production kitchen,” a place where a more flexible, personalized menu of made-from-scratch meals can be produced from fresh ingredients.
In this episode of Power to Heal, you’ll meet a food service expert who is a vocal supporter of the production kitchen, and the many benefits, great and small, it can bring to the patient experience at hospitals like Peace Arch.
Guests:
The Power to Heal is hosted by veteran broadcaster and long-time White Rock/South Surrey resident, Wayne Cox.
Presented by Peace Arch Hospital Foundation in White Rock, British Columbia, the Power to Heal podcast takes you behind the scenes of an innovative hospital Foundation. It introduces you to the team who find new and sometimes surprising ways to engage with the local community and help fund the best healthcare possible in the region.
Since 1988, the Foundation has raised over $210 million for capital projects, medical equipment, and community health programs. Their passionate and caring team’s number one priority is the prudent stewardship of your gifts and the resulting positive impact on patients and medical staff at Peace Arch Hospital and the entire White Rock-South Surrey community.
Download the Power to Heal wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Links:
For more information about the Peace Arch Hospital Foundation, or to donate, visit pahfoundation.ca
It’s a medical condition known as the “silent thief.” It can occur over several years without any obvious symptoms. By the time it is diagnosed, this disease which impacts at least 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men is already advanced and more difficult to treat.
It’s osteoporosis, a condition that causes bones to become thin and more susceptible to breakage. In fact, osteoporosis is the reason for over 80% of all bone fractures in people over fifty. While no single cause for this condition has emerged, many research programs are underway into prevention strategies that can help patients find ways to avoid refracturing and hospitalization – an all too common occurrence.
In this episode of Power to Heal, you’ll meet a physician who is conducting specialized research into the area of osteoporosis and fracture prevention. You’ll also be introduced to a spinal fracture patient who has regained some of her mobility – and hope – thanks partly to her active role as a “patient partner” in this ground-breaking research program.
Discover what a “bone attack” is, and learn about the challenges to fund an “FLS” (Fracture Liaison Service), a clinically proven and cost-effective method of improving the rate of osteoporosis treatment and/or referrals to an osteoporosis specialist.
Guests:
The Power to Heal is hosted by veteran broadcaster and long-time White Rock/South Surrey resident, Wayne Cox.
Presented by Peace Arch Hospital Foundation in White Rock, British Columbia, the Power to Heal podcast takes you behind the scenes of an innovative hospital Foundation. It introduces you to the team who find new and sometimes surprising ways to engage with the local community and help fund the best healthcare possible in the region.
Since 1988, the Foundation has raised over $210 million for capital projects, medical equipment, and community health programs. Their passionate and caring team’s number one priority is the prudent stewardship of your gifts and the resulting positive impact on patients and medical staff at Peace Arch Hospital and the entire White Rock-South Surrey community.
Download the Power to Heal wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Links:
Learn about the Fracture Liaison Service (Fraser Health)
For more information about the Peace Arch Hospital Foundation, or to make a donation, visit pahfoundation.ca
The garden at the Ellen Sinclair Kennett Lodge in White Rock, British Columbia, has a special feature that isn’t a plant or decorative touch. It’s there, but It’s also invisible, at least at first glance. That’s because this tranquil spot, found at a Long-Term Care facility near the city’s Peace Arch Hospital, is built around a philosophy – a belief that nature can provide peace and comfort for both hospice patients and their families.
In this episode of Power to Heal, you’ll meet a former nurse turned professional gardener who has found new meaning in her work by becoming a therapeutic horticulturalist – a specialist in plants and nature, and their unique ability to bring comfort to those entering the final stage of their lives.
With support from generous donors and the Peace Arch Hospital Foundation, her expertise has helped transform a basic courtyard garden into something very special: a therapeutic garden for hospice patients and their loved ones. The Vern and Helga Hoing Tranquility Garden, set in a quiet area behind the Lodge’s Melville Hospice Home, now provides a calming space for end-of-life patients – some wheeled out in their beds – to spend peaceful moments with their families.
Learn how a carefully planned hospice garden can provide comfort to those with terminal and life-limiting conditions and for their loved ones too.
Guests:
The Power to Heal is hosted by veteran broadcaster and long-time White Rock/South Surrey resident, Wayne Cox.
Presented by Peace Arch Hospital Foundation in White Rock, British Columbia, the Power to Heal podcast takes you behind the scenes of an innovative hospital Foundation and introduces you to the team who find new and sometimes surprising ways to engage with the local community and help fund the best healthcare possible in the region.
Since 1988, the Foundation has raised over $210 million for capital projects, medical equipment, and community health programs. Their passionate and caring team’s number one priority is the prudent stewardship of your gifts and the resulting positive impact on patients and medical staff at Peace Arch Hospital and the entire White Rock-South Surrey community.
Download the Power to Heal wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Links:
(News release) Funding is now complete for Ellen Sinclair Kennett Lodge
For more information about the Peace Arch Hospital Foundation, or to make a donation, visit pahfoundation.ca
In early summer of 2023, the Peace Arch Hospital Foundation Lodge was renamed in honour of the Foundation's first board chair, Hospital Auxiliary Member, health care trailblazer and White Rock/South Surrey community advocate, the late Ellen Sinclair Kennett. Her connection with PAH stretches all the way back to 1948, when Ellen began fundraising for what would eventually become Peace Arch Hospital – an important healthcare centre in the region that she continued to advocate for and support for the remainder of her life.
In this special, series-opening episode of Power to Heal, you’ll hear from several people who knew Ellen well and experienced first-hand her passion for giving back to the community she loved. Starting with her rural childhood as the daughter of Danish immigrant farmers, Power to Heal will explore the influences that helped shape this remarkable woman’s journey from hospital auxiliary fundraiser to board chair in the male-dominated world of non-profit leadership.
In addition to the voices of those who loved and admired her, you’ll also hear from Ellen herself. In excerpts from a 2016 archival interview, she recounts the dire conditions back in the 1940s which led the only hospital in the area to announce that it would no longer accept patients from Surrey – a momentous decision that inspired Ellen and others from the White Rock community to begin fundraising for a hospital of their own. But that’s just one part of the Ellen Sinclair Kennett story, which encompasses raising a family, the death of her first husband, and volunteering for seemingly countless community organizations.
Host Wayne Cox leads a sometimes humorous, sometimes emotional conversation about a caring, inspirational, and selfless woman – a true community champion who put her heart and soul into the betterment of White Rock and South Surrey for everyone who calls this area home.
Guests:
This episode’s guests are joined by Stephanie Beck, Peace Arch Hospital Foundation’s Executive Director, who would often call on Ellen for expert advice during her earlier role with the foundation as Director of Major Gifts.
The Power to Heal podcast, presented by Peace Arch Hospital Foundation in White Rock, British Columbia, takes you behind the scenes of an innovative hospital Foundation and introduces you to the team who find new and sometimes surprising ways to engage with the local community and help fund the best healthcare possible in the region.
Since 1988, the Foundation has raised over $210 million for capital projects, medical equipment, and community health programs. Their passionate and caring team’s number one priority is the prudent stewardship of your gifts and the resulting positive impact on patients and medical staff at Peace Arch Hospital and the entire White Rock-South Surrey community.
Download the Power to Heal wherever you get your favourite podcasts.
Links:
The Ellen Sinclair Kennett Lodge becomes official at renaming ceremony (news release)
For more information on the Peace Arch Hospital Foundation, or to make a donation, visit pahfoundation.ca