A Huge THANK YOU to Everyone Who Supported Rock Out for Mental Health!
We are beyond grateful for the incredible generosity and support we received during our fundraising event. Thanks to YOU, we were able to raise enough to purchase TWO e-bikes, along with helmets and locks, for Horizon House Clubhouse! 
Thank you again for rocking out with us, Hard Candy, and Two Peaks Brewing and showing your support for KGHF’s mental health projects! Let’s continue to make an impact together! 
Thanks to LNG Canada and the Grad Class of 1984 for their generous donations to this project!
We’re thrilled to see the positive impact the new Smart TV in the Acute Care Lounge at Kitimat General Hospital is having on both patients and families! 🌟
Here’s how it’s making a difference: 🎥 Stronger Family Connections: Families can now enjoy movies together and share memories with family photos on the big screen. 🌍 Virtual Travel & Relaxation: Patients can escape to car shows, explore new countries, or just unwind with a peaceful virtual scene—all from the comfort of the lounge. 📺 Endless Entertainment & Learning: From classic shows on Pluto TV to educational content on YouTube, there’s something for everyone, including family-friendly fun on the Disney Channel.
For patients, especially those awaiting placement, the TV provides:
đź’– A Sense of Normalcy: Offering comfort and reducing feelings of isolation.
🧠Sensory Stimulation: Encouraging brain function and mental wellness.
🎉 Distraction & Relaxation: Reducing pain and boredom through engaging content.
The Kitimat General Hospital Foundation is excited to announce that we’ve purchased a reclining and heated massager chair for KGH’s oncology patients thanks to our generous donors! This new addition will give those undergoing treatment a chance to relax and find some comfort during their journey. Thank you to everyone who made this possible!
Congratulations to our January winners! We are thrilled to announce the first winners of our 2025 Calendar Raffle fundraiser:
John Fontes (Ticket #283), who won a gift card to Save-On-Foods
Tom Shannon (Ticket #187), who won a gift certificate to the Kitimat Museum and Archives
Thank you to everyone who participated in this important fundraiser. A special thank you to our generous donors, including the talented local photographer, Dusty Danis, for kindly contributing this month's stunning photo, as well as Save-On-Foods and Kitimat Museum & Archives for their continued support.
Your participation in purchasing calendars for 2025 helps fund much-needed equipment for Mountainview Lodge, and we are incredibly grateful to our community for its ongoing support.
Thank you so much for your generous donation to our Snoezelen Activities Cart. A Snoezelen cart is an activity center designed to alleviate boredom, reduce anxiety, and minimize sundowning in patients. It offers multi-sensory stimulation that engages the primary senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. The cart includes features like soothing lighting, tactile surfaces, calming music, and relaxing essential oils, all aimed at supporting our most vulnerable patients at Kitimat General Hospital. These sensory activities will be utilized by patients with mild to moderate dementia and utilized by residents at Mountainview Lodge, helping to enhance their thinking, mood, and overall participation in daily activities and leisure. Your support is truly appreciated and will make a meaningful difference in their care. We are truly grateful for your commitment to enhancing care in our community.
Thank you to WSG Energy Services for giving back this holiday season! Thank you for your continued support of the Kitimat General Hospital Foundation.
Exciting News for Kitimat General Hospital!
At our Gala in September 2023, we celebrated an extremely generous donation by LNG Canada that, combined with a donation from the Max Lange Foundation, provided the funds needed for a CT Scanner. Northern Health committed to making the CT Scanner part of their Imaging Strategy for Kitimat, bringing this essential service closer to home.
While Northern Health initially needed to assess the business case and costing for site renovations to install and maintain the CT Scanner (estimated to cost nearly $1 million annually), the renovations required turned out to be more extensive than expected, including crucial HVAC work. Northern Health informed the Kitimat General Hospital Foundation (KGHF) that if we could raise $2.4 million, they would handle the rest of the costs.
Thanks to the unwavering support of our donors; LNG Canada, Max Lange Foundation, District of Kitimat, the Envision Financial Community Endowment and the First West Foundation, and community members, we proudly committed $2.4 million to Northern Health for this vital project. 
Yesterday, we were thrilled to announce that Northern Health has committed to moving forward with the CT Scanner project, with a projected operation date of 2026. Our Digital Imaging department is well-equipped and ready to support this new service, ensuring that our community will have access to life-saving diagnostics without needing to travel to other communities.
This development will not only improve patient care but also make Kitimat a more attractive place to work. The addition of the CT Scanner is a major step toward recruiting and retaining top medical staff, helping ensure we continue to provide exceptional healthcare services right here in our community.
More importantly, this CT Scanner will greatly benefit our at-risk population, including the elderly, those without vehicles, and vulnerable or injured residents, who would otherwise have to make stressful and sometimes dangerous trips on the highway for critical imaging services. This new service will reduce the need for highway travel for so many who rely on local care.
The CT Scanner will remain at Kitimat General Hospital for the life of the equipment, a promise that ensures ongoing care right here at home. We are incredibly thankful for everyone who has contributed to making this vision a reality, and we’re hopeful this will ease the burden on our already busy ambulance service.
Thank you, to our community, for your generosity and commitment! Together, we are making our community stronger.
Kitimat General Hospital Celebrates Successful Implementation of Upgraded Cardiac Monitor System
The Kitimat General Hospital Foundation is elated to announce the triumphant completion of the upgraded cardiac monitor system at Kitimat General Hospital. This remarkable advancement signifies a transformative leap in patient care, heralding a new era of enhanced monitoring capabilities and unprecedented patient mobility.
The introduction of this cutting-edge system empowers the hospital to monitor a greater number of patients simultaneously, courtesy of its sophisticated ambulatory monitors. No longer confined to their beds, patients can now move freely throughout the hospital, liberated from the cumbersome necessity of being tethered to a bedside unit. This newfound mobility not only greatly enhances patient comfort but also significantly alleviates the workload of our dedicated nursing staff, who previously had to manage the frequent disconnection and reconnection of monitoring equipment.
The system’s state-of-the-art remote patient monitoring technology further elevates patient care by dispensing with the need for restrictive wiring. Healthcare providers can now seamlessly observe heart rhythms through a portable telemetry system. These lightweight telemetry devices, affixed to patients via electrodes, transmit vital data to a central monitor, enabling continuous and thorough analysis. This setup allows patients to maintain their freedom of movement without compromising on the critical oversight that their health demands.
Moreover, the telemetry system is equipped with sophisticated inbuilt alarms that immediately alert healthcare professionals to any sudden or irregular changes in a patient’s cardiac activity. This ensures that potential issues are swiftly identified, enabling doctors and nurses to respond with the utmost urgency while still focusing on other essential duties.
However, the journey to this achievement was not without its challenges. Equipment backlogs and complexities in the biomedic installation process extended the timeline significantly. Despite these hurdles, the unwavering dedication of the hospital staff and the steadfast support of the community ensured the successful completion of this vital upgrade.
A key driver behind this success was the Lapointe Family, who spearheaded a matching campaign that challenged the community to come together and raise the funds needed to purchase this crucial equipment. The community rose to the occasion, demonstrating its solidarity and commitment to enhancing local healthcare.
We are profoundly grateful to all who played a role in this success. Our deepest appreciation goes out to the incredibly generous Lapointe Family, Ledcor Pipeline Limited, Knights of Columbus Kitimat Council, Servco, Beverley Gottschling, Andrew Towse, Carlyle Shepherd, Helena Veysey, Curtis Berube, Alex Jean, the Catholic Women’s League, Bradley’s Bait and Tackle, Kyle’s No Frills, and St. Anthony’s students and families. Additionally, we extend heartfelt thanks to the many other generous members of our community who participated in our highly successful Run for Healthcare sponsored by LNG Canada and the highly successful Lapointe Matching Campaign and various fundraising initiatives.
Thank you for your steadfast support and for being the cornerstone of this remarkable achievement.
The Kitimat General Hospital Foundation is delighted with the successful implementation of the Fluent System for gynecology at the Kitimat General Hospital. This system allows the Operating Room in Kitimat to schedule gynecology surgeries locally, keeping Kitimat residents in the community rather than needing to travel on the highway braving unexpected road conditions. It also increases operating room availability for gynecologists in our region, leading to reduced wait times and waiting lists. Currently, there are over 700 people waiting for these surgeries, and the fluent system streamlines procedures for the entire team, positively impacting patient incomes.
Special thank you to all of our generous donors to allow us to complete this very important project!
Photo left to right:
Kristen Scrivens (Northern Health)
Kayla Steponavicius (Envision)
Dr. Van Rensburg (OBGYN)
Mike Forward (Envision)
Doris Empinado (Northern Health)
Laurel D'Andrea (KGHF President)
Simon Pascoe (GM Rio Tinto BC Works)
Ann David (Northern Health)
Devrie Sanghera (Rio Tinto BC Works)
Rob Goffinet (KGHF)
Cynthia Medeiros (KGHF)
Edwin Empinado (Northern Health)
