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Welcome to Harbouring Hope, a podcast brought to you by the Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation, hosted by Foundation CEO Barney Ellis-Perry.
In each episode, we’ll take you behind the scenes of the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, Oceanside Health Centre, and other facilities supported by our Foundation to explore the many departments, innovations, and dedicated professionals who keep our healthcare system running. From doctors and nurses to administrative leaders and patients with lived experience, we’ll hear powerful stories that reveal both the challenges and the triumphs within our hospital walls.
Most importantly, we’ll shine a light on the critical role our community plays…because behind every success story is a network of generous supporters helping to make it all possible.
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Many people think of philanthropy as generosity, but it's also strategy involved. Choosing where you give can make the greatest difference. So for you, how do you balance the heart and the head when you give? It's two sides of the same coin for me. It starts with the heart and it starts with a passion to make a difference in an area that means a lot to me or triggers a memory of somebody that I've lost, like my husband or friends, and then
The head has to be involved to try and do the due diligence to make sure I'm making the right decision.
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This is Harboring Hope, the podcast that takes you inside the unique challenges and exciting opportunities facing healthcare in Central and North Vancouver Island. I'm Barney Ellis Perry, your host and CEO of the Nanaimo District Hospital Foundation. I'll be with you as we hear stories from the front lines of our healthcare facilities and from people whose generous time and donations support the ongoing improvements of healthcare in our community.
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I'm sure you're not surprised to learn that women are some of our most thoughtful and generous donors. In this episode of Harpering Hope, we welcome two women who have made significant gifts to the Naimo and District Hospital Foundation. We're going to talk about their journeys into philanthropy and what motivates them to give so generously. How do their lived experiences and values shape their giving? What advice would they give other women thinking about making a large donation? It turns out that it's all about the head and the heart when it comes to philanthropy.
Whether you're thinking about giving to honor someone you love, to express your gratitude, to build a meaningful legacy, or to help shape the future of healthcare close to home, you'll want to hear what these generous women have to say. They're going to give you a few smart tips because even though giving can be an emotional decision, you've got to be smart about it too. Without further ado, here's Janet Farouk, a retired economist and philanthropist, and Jackie Claybon, a retired businesswoman and philanthropist.
Both bring a lifetime of experience, perspective, and community commitment to the question of why women give, how they make decisions, and what it means to invest in healthcare for the future of Central Vancouver Island. Jackie and Janet, I don't think you've met. You've been at probably some of our events at the same time and stuff. like you were both at our annual update. It's nice to meet you, Janet, even virtually. Eventually we'll be face to face. We will be. I look forward. But Janet
J Jackie said to me, I don't know if you should have me because I'm very opinionated and I may go off script. I'm like, Yes. I'm like, and trust me, Janet's very opinionated and we'll do we're gonna have a lot of fun, I think. Yeah, yeah. This is what I like. And and this is what we're trying to achieve. Like the whole goal of this is to get people just thinking, you know, and about deeper than just like the act of writing a check. You know, to me it's about the values that go behind that, that everything that leads up.
to people's engagement with us philanthropically. And as you know, you know, I love to talk about meaning and purpose and and what does it mean for people to be engaged, you know, in supporting healthcare. And so that's as you see in the questions, that's where we're going. And my hope is that there'll be people that listen to this and go, yeah, like that's me. I see myself in that. Or gee, I'd like to think more about what I'm doing and maybe get more involved and, you know, and tell others. And, you know, that that's sort of the goal here is to just
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help our donors think more mindfully about their philanthropy and what they're doing with us. So to begin, I'd love each of you to tell us a little bit about yourselves, your connection to Central Vancouver Island and what community has meant to you over the years. Okay, I s I'm a Canadian but I spent thirty-six years out of Canada working mainly for the United Nations. When we came to retirement, my husband and I decided to settle on Vancouver Island.
Because it's paradise. That's what he used to call it. And since we've been here now twenty-six years, I've made a lot of friends through mostly women who have lost their husbands, which is one of the interesting things, through the Canadian Federation of University Women and through Milner Gardens. I got involved with the hospital foundation r when my husband died, and I'll talk about that a bit later.
But it's been I would never live anywhere else in the world, having lived all over. I would come back here to retire. That's pretty awesome. Thank you. Jackie. Well, Jonathan, thank you. You've given me three segues into my little speech. my dad was with the UN, so as a child I travelled vagabonds with them until it was time to settle down for a later academia, which was in Montreal at McGill.
And then my path led me to the fashion industry, which was all consuming and a great passion of mine. And so my community was really family and the people in the fashion industry, because there was no time for work balance. When my husband wanted to start retiring and convince me to move to the island, it was a seismic change because I had time to pursue the things I never could do before.
And being part of the community became very important to me. Unfortunately, he passed away ten years ago. And more and more I've been involved in trying to make a difference and very much through BC cancer, which is another story, but very much now with full passion to try and help, especially with the CAF lab and the big tower. So that's where I am. Awesome. We all love being here, which is fantastic.
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But many varied paths got us here, which I like. When you think about philanthropy, is there a moment in your life when giving became more personal or more important to you? Me first. well, my husband and I both came from very poor families, and we had we were lucky to get a good education and then have good jobs. So when we retired, we sat down and we said, Okay, now is our time to give back because we've had so much help. And so we put together
An idea, but then most of our focus was on education because that was what we saw was needed throughout the world, was the one thing that made a difference. And so that's where I started with giving back. And that was well, twenty six years ago actually. Wow. That's amazing. Jackie.
So I have to go further back than that. It's really been my upbringing and things that happened to me in my earlier life that I always had a wish to pay back or make a difference when I could. It was only on the move to Vancouver Island that I just mentioned that I had the time to really pursue that. And
So philanthropy's been in my blood, I guess, all the way along, but it really came to the forefront and gave me time to do due diligence and really find the ways that I wanted to try and get involved. So perhaps I think from your story, our philanthropy started long ago. We only were able to take it into action when we had the time and the ability to do so. Yeah.
That's great. Now I asked this question because I was raised by a mainly single mother after my father died. And she spent a lot of time volunteering and giving and and I've always had that lens of sort of female led philanthropy, if you will. And I remember the raging fights in our house when my stepfather didn't understand why she wanted to do this stuff. So it was always interesting perspective from in my brain. So my question is, do you think women sometimes approach philanthropy differently?
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Perhaps the lens of family, community relationships, independence or legacy. I put down beside that question a big no. Because I find a lot of men who like who believe in philanthropy and would contribute a lot. The problem is that many of the people we have in this community are widows and that makes a difference. Because I think people also contribute as couples.
I can think of a number of couples who do philanthropy very generously all the time. But the the thing that we have now is to figure out how the women who are widows think about philanthropy. Mm-hmm. Interesting. And I would add to that, like what I've noticed a a number of of folks I deal with, they are widows. And I get a sense of agency in our conversations.
Well it's it's it's aging. And and you know, we're all facing something in a few years from now, and we want to figure out how we can do what we can now. And that's part of it. Yeah. Jackie. So reviewing your questions a little bit in advance and giving it some thoughts, my quick answer is to be honest, I'm not a card carrying militant feminist in any way. My career path
I didn't have to struggle with the gender card and with my wonderful husband either. So I really dislike trying to make a difference or paint a difference between male and female and i i i that is not I th I think what Janet just said about widowhood, which I am one, and i our aging, i there's so many things perhaps we are
in a generalization more sensitive or in more need to feel connected, especially once our husbands are gone and but I don't believe that it's a direct leap into we do things differently either. So I'm sorry, I don't agree with your theory. That's good. That's great. No, I like it. so next next season we'll do men in philanthropy and look at it from that angle. Yeah. No, I 'cause but it is
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a marked difference what I find in the conversations that I have. But it I think people come at it from different places to the same end. You know? You know better. You're always talking to people. Yeah. But I think as a society we don't often go to this place of values. And you know, the deeper conversations about these activities, like often these conversations, although they are really important, they sometimes don't go there. Which I find interesting because people are making huge commitments.
And sometimes it's I d I don't always get to know what's underneath it. You know, what's the motivation? Which leads me to our next question. In our work at the foundation, we often see philanthropy as a way of people expressing their values. What values are most important to you when you make a significant gift? For me, it's usefulness. That the money will actually get used in a way that helps. And I I mean that very sincerely. It's not
generosity or anything. It's really trying to fill a gap that is there. And we have the money, why not fill it? And contribute and help to grow things better. That's how I look at it. That's great. Jackie. I love your answer, Janet. I I will say it in different words. It's trying to make a difference. It's doing something to pay forward. It is hopefully, I believe in giving with a warm hand to be able to see
hopefully see a a little bit of change or be part of making something better and helping. And so of course, focus is on what makes you passionate or what has triggered you. But health care and the arts are my two passions and that's where I stand. Well I give for education and and healthcare and gardens. Yes. I like that idea. That's great. Jackie starting with you.
As a retired businesswoman, you spent a lifetime making decisions, assessing opportunities, and thinking about impact. How does that business experience influence the way you think about philanthropy? I believe in doing due diligence to make sure that the money goes where it needs to go or where I would like it to go, and that there is a value put on it and it's not squandered. So first comes the passion and then comes the diligence part and
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not only following my intuition but doing my homework to make sure that yeah I give value and it's treated with respect as I treat the organizations with respect. I just add to that I always try to make sure that whatever d I'm giving that it's registered with the government, then it's a legitimate charity. Yeah. Not an individual. I like that.
I'd like to ask you both a bit more on that. Like what what else do you look for, like Jackie, when you say you do your your due diligence? What's on your checklist? the strength of the organization, the amount of costs that are involved to do it so that the money does go to the bottom line where I would like it to go. Of course there are costs, but you know, it's not a deep dive, but it's trying to make sure, as Janet just said, that any
donations that I'm able to do, I would like to know that it made a difference for people in general, not just large organizations. Yours, of course, is squeaky clean, especially after the last update. Good. Well we try. But it's something that's like I like I appreciate this because this is something that's always always on my shoulder. You know, like every decision we make, that's donor dollars we're spending.
And we're often, you know, we have to spend on infrastructure, we have to spend on, you know, our technology and the various things. You know, but it really comes down to is that a good use of donor dollars and how is that gonna impact our bottom line at the end? And it was like, well, like just the other day, like one of our software providers that we we use for an it's important software, it's our HR software. They've quadrupled their price. And we've gone back to them and said, like, this is donor dollars we're spending. Like, no.
We can't justify it at that price. Like there's just no way. And so it's always sort of on the shoulder. And the other one is as well is what would be on the front page of the paper. You know, like everything has to be squeaky clean. Like every decision ha I d I just this sort of like my vetting process, you know. And I think that's really important. And I th 'cause I really believe the donors have all the right to ask the hard questions. Yeah. Well, I I I mean, for instance, I sat on the board at Milner Gardens for eight years.
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in charge of their finance committee. So I knew the budgets and I knew what was missing and what was needed and so on. And so that makes a difference. I feel very confident when I give money there that it's going to be used properly. And the same well, the scholarship trust, I chaired it for a couple of years and I worked on it and I know that it helps local girls and that's a big deal.
I mean we're giving out fifty, sixty thousand dollars a year from a bunch of old women. It's not bad. That's phenomenal. They're good scholarships. Yeah, very good scholarships. That's awesome. You know, Janet, as a retired economist, you bring a thoughtful and analytical perspective to community investment. How do you think about philanthropy as a way of creating long term community value? Okay. Hmm.
I look at it at the way that we live in a society where government raises money through taxes, but they never have enough money to provide the social services that we all need. And all I'll Canada is one of the countries that we're really lucky. We have good roads and good this and good that, but we are missing some of the social services. And so giving through
the local community helps to build up those social services where we live, which is I think good. I mean our government taxes go elsewhere. And I really feel that those who have more should help. And that's the way I look at it. That people who are poor off have enough trouble existing. And when I think about it
my housekeeper had to go with a heart attack two and a half hours to Victoria to be treated. And I mean I and she is she is nothing. And it was luckily the govern the health care covered her. Otherwise she would have died in Parksville. Right? And but still that long voyage was really, really difficult. I know when my husband was dying, he had to go down to
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Victoria to see an oncologist. And I think that when I had my first cancer in ninety four in Switzerland, he was just, you know, ten minutes away. So i I I I look at how badly treated the northern part of the island has been for health care for so many years. And it really upsets me. I appreciate that because there's
You know, stories we hear a lot of these stories, and there is folks who they can't afford the gas to go to Victoria. What if they have to stay overnight? Things like that comes up a lot. We've raised been fortunate to raise some quite a lot of money in support of parents and mainly mothers coming to the hospital often before the baby's born and they're told they have to stay in this community, but they may be from Northern Vancouver Island and they can't afford the hotels. They can't afford the Airbnb. And thanks to
Some of our funders, you know, were able to cover that and support them at the and it's always directed through the social workers, et cetera. But this is a very common story in Central Island. And this is what's exciting about the cancer center coming, you know, because I'd heard some horrendous stories of people who chose not to seek treatment, you know, for radiation because they couldn't afford or they just couldn't make the drive to Victoria. Well I've had four cancers so far.
Well so I am absolutely delighted to see that center going. Yeah. And Jackie, you put a lot of work into helping it come to fruition. I'm very honored that I was able to help along the way for the last five years and most proud of the fact that it's here and twenty twenty eight will celebrate the opening. Well, I'm still waiting for Barney to tell me what to do with this year's donation. I gave last I gave last year to the Cancer Center.
And I I have a list for you, my dear. I have a shopping list. I will come darken your door with a sh with a list for you.
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Many people think of philanthropy as generosity, but it's also strategy involved. Choosing where you give can make the greatest difference. So for you, how do you balance the heart and the head when you give? It's two sides of the same coin for me. It starts with the heart and it starts with a passion to make a difference in an area that means a lot to me or triggers a memory of somebody that I've lost, like my husband, or friends, and then
the head has to be involved to try and do the due diligence to make sure I'm making the right decision. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's part and parcel of the same especially in larger donations. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. And you have to have both. Yeah. You know. And I fear some people sometimes jump in too much with with the heart and don't ask the tough questions. That's right. Yeah. Well then they don't stay important.
Yeah. No. And they and they they don't look at the charity properly. Mm-hmm. They need to. I mean, I really think we should in some ways have two or three of us around that if a woman wants to think about investing philanthropy, that they could phone somebody on the list and just have a chat. That to me I think is the best way of going ahead. I do it with a lot of people up here.
I've done it on behalf of BC Cancer. Yeah. Yeah. Well I that's a great idea. I like that a lot. Very simple. my god. I love this. Do you see philanthropy playing a different role for women compared to men when it comes to legacy, purpose, or independence? Basically, when the women w if a woman if we if you were to be on our call dial a donor hotline and people called, what would you say? I would ask them first
If they have really looked at their budget, have they thought about how much they're actually using as a widow every year for their own expenses? How much are they getting in the way of a pension? And how much do they have in the bank? And then work from there to think about how much you want to leave your family, because I have sons and granddaugh kids and I want to leave money too. And then the rest of it
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Think about what your theme is, what thing really excites you. Is it garners? Is it education? Is it healthcare? Is it I don't know. Could be a million things. And then start there slowly and find a couple of the good charities in that area that have government certification and that sort of thing. And just start you don't have to give everything away in one go.
You can give it over years. I mean I budget so much a year essentially. And that keeps me within boundaries, but allows me enough degrees of freedom. But I do think it's important to sort of think, okay, this is my pot for philanthropy. And let's see what I can do with it. That's what I would tell them. I like that. And I'd I'd add two things. One is
Taxes is awesome for a I tell a lot of people, talk to your accountant, figure out what are your advantages, you know, and how can you leverage what you have and and save on taxes. but also All the time. Major part. It's so important. You know? Someone said to me the other day, I will not invest in a charity that doesn't have a government number. Yeah. Yeah. And in terms of long term planning, I love someone said to me the other day, I've never heard this, and I loved it.
When you pass, you can leave your money as three places for your money to go. Your family and loved ones, CRA or charity. Now pick two. I thought that was this is this the greatest moment of clarity. It's like yeah. Actually it's a it's it's why we why a lot of us give is quite a bit is to we were down to how much do we have for the family. Mm-hmm. Yeah.
I I have grandchildren going to g to university now, so it's expensive. Yes. J Jackie, I'm gonna ask you, was there a particular experience or moment that helped you decide to support the Nylon District Hospital Foundation in such a meaningful way? Yes. It it started my late husband died in twenty fifteen. I made donation in his memory.
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And then the next year is kind of blank for me. And after that, I first he was his life was saved and we had an extra ten years because of BC cancer. And so I was very much involved. and that triggered a big involvement for me. At this point, I feel it's now time to turn my attention and my passion towards more community and
The Cath lab and the tower, we need so much here. And I respect you, Barney, and the foundation so much. Of course, my attention has turned, as you know. And it's important for me to do what little or as big as I can to put my shoulder to that one now. I appreciate that. And that helps us, these voices help us a lot as we lobby.
You know, when we say the communities behind this, they you know, this really has a big impact. right at the front end. Like people like you and then Janet come in early on these projects, that really helps us send that message to all the levels of government that the communities behind it. And you know, this is so needed. So that's had a lot of impact. I remember visiting trying to visit my husband in the patient tower when just before he died.
And I just had a hip replacement, so I had a walker. I couldn't get down the hall. Yeah. It was awful. When he moved to palliative care, it was lovely. It was much easier. And peaceful. When it was my husband who said to me as he was dying, he appreciated the treatment he had had at the hospital. He said, Would you please give a hundred thousand dollars to the hospital? And that's when I met Janice.
The previous Barney's predecessor. Yeah. Janice Prior. And that's what started it. Because he really wanted to to do that. It's not in his will or anywhere. It was just a communication that he made. But but he was he was quite something. Force of nature. And he's now there's there's a room named in honor of him in the ICU, which is pretty awesome. One in the ICU, one in the HU. Yeah. Well that's phenomenal.
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I love it. And Janice Perino is our greatest advocate on her role with the Regional Hospital District Board. So we're we're really lucky to have Janice still doing good work for the foundation. well Janet, I'll ask you a question then. How does supporting local healthcare shape your connection to this community? In two ways, I think. First of all, I spend quite a bit of time spreading the word.
I about the hospital and what's happening with it and what the problems are. As Barney knows, I always invite one of my girlfriends to come to the meetings, whether it's the annual review or fundraiser or whatever, I'm always bringing one other person since I have no husband. And
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I think that
It also applies to all of us because we're going to die and we need to have our health care where we feel we can cope. I am so impressed at the moment. My sister in law next door to me here is dying and she has palliative care in the house from the oceanside. The doctor comes once a week, the nurses come twice a day.
And I find that absolutely amazing. It did not exist ten years ago, for sure. For sure. I mean she may move eventually when she's right near the end, but it's been so good for her to be in her own home. And and that's the sort of thing that I think improving the relationship with the community. Last year we gave eight hundred dollars to Oceanside.
to make up little bags to give to poor women at Christmas time with menstrual gifts and hygiene and so on. And I hope we're gonna do it again this year. And last year it was myself and a girlfriend who did it. This year I have four or five of my friends who want to be involved. Can you imagine? That's great. It feels good. And the people at the hospital really appreciated it.
I I I mean I felt sort of badly just giving them money and they have to make up the bags. But it didn't seem to be a problem. No, they're They were just grateful. Yeah. And it's Jeanette who is really helping me with that. So I hope we do it again. That's another community connection. Yeah, totally. No, we've Jennifer and I meet with leadership at Oceanside Health Center once a month and he they want to do it again. They they loved it.
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And it was just appreciated. And the bags went quickly, which is sad in some levels. Yeah. So the more we can do the better. It's from the surplus from our club from the last year. That's where the money comes from. Yeah. So I I have to get a couple of girlfriends. Take the same application. It goes through you people. Yeah. To the to Ocean Sign. Yeah, totally.
Jackie, I'm gonna ask you, do you think people sometimes underestimate the influence they can have through philanthropy? without a doubt. Without a doubt. There has to be emotion attached. there are so many different motives. there are so many different people and ways to do it. But to really for me it is seeing making a difference or feeling a connection or feeling able to help in whatever way I can. Some can give much more.
Some are only able to give much less, but it's the connection that really counts. I never really thought I was gonna be able to give donations like I am. It had never occurred to me when we were working. It was just it happened. And then it now it feels normal. I keep an Excel sheet of all I'm giving all the different groups and things. I can show you when you come. I love it. Don't tell your kids.
That is a key point. I don't I decided long ago children were not gonna be in my future. My husband agreed with it and so I'm a different position because I don't have the joy nor the worry of what I can leave my kids and therefore the freedom to try and use what I have the best way I know how. Yeah, well I just put what I want to leave them.
with a limit and everything b beyond that is for me to spend as I wish. And I'm not cruising anymore. I'm not traveling very much, so it makes more Yeah. It adds up. Well Janet I'd like to ask you
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How do you like because you've been on some of our tours and I remember the tour where you came to see the high acuity unit and aided the paint color. Paint color problems. But I'd like to ask you, how important for you is it to see or feel that, you know, the difference your donation is having? It makes a huge difference to be able to go in and see the the sign outside the ICU and the HCU, which lists everything.
I mean, I knew Windsor Plywood very well. I knew both the owner and his wife well through Milner. They're big contributors to Milner. But and to see to actually see the room and think, okay, somebody's gonna be using this. I mean, I tell friends, if you're ever in the ICU, ask for room ten. Because the old ICU was just horrible. And and we've never had an HAU.
So I I see that as a big step forward for the hospital, that new building. I I mean the maternity wards were really wonderful years ago. And the I emergency room wasn't bad. I think the emergency room for seniors is a great idea. But the palliative care was nice, but that patient tower drives me up a wall. It is really, really bad.
And I don't wanna have to go to Victoria for anything when I die. I really don't. we're working hard to change that. I know. Yeah, that's now with the concept planning that we're undertaking for the patient tower, which is really exciting. It's the first phase of whatever happened to your idea of housing doctors. we're working Yeah, we've got a project we're a partnership we hope to be able to announce publicly in a couple of months.
with a a an important public partner in our community. and we are ideating a hundred unit healthcare facility. Yeah. Wow. So we want to have space for 30, we want a space for residents when they're training here, so we can provide them. They would still pay, but it would be, you know, just market or below. also for so residents in year one and year two, and then the third and fourth year residents that come for shorter periods of time, like six to eight weeks.
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space for them as well as for locums and then for visiting doctors that are coming to, you know, we're trying to woo them to our community. So all of that is a partnership with the University of British Columbia School of Medicine. And that's really exciting. That's The rest of the build we hope to have for workers at the hospital. it's focused on people with families and more folks who are at the lower economic end of of our workforce. And there's over thirty five hundred people working in the hospital.
And then it would also have a hundred seat daycare that would ideally run on hospital hours. So, you know, to be aligned with shift times and stuff. So that's our vision right now. we're just going through all the due diligence and we have to work with some other government ministries, et cetera. but that's work has been made possible through a plan gift through a a lady who died and left an estate around two and a half million dollars to the foundation.
And it's sad because we didn't know her. We had she'd made one gift in twenty thirteen and then changed her will in twenty fourteen, I think it was, and left everything to us. but there was no relationship. So we weren't able to know where she wanted the money to go, which I find sad. But this is such a de you know, such a strong need in our community. We're using the interest on the money to help right now immediately to provide stipends to healthcare workers and mainly doctors and nurse practitioners we're trying to recruit.
And also develop our red carpet program and eventually that will become seed capital for this larger, huge project that we're trying to put together. So wonderful. Yeah, it's wonderful. Yeah. Yeah, we're really excited about that. And what's neat is so as we're doing the concept planning for the patient tower, we're also doing concept planning for the CAF lab. We at the same time are doing community care planning, which is looking at what are the needs of all of central Vancouver Island in partnership with Northern Vancouver Island. and so
that will dictate a lot of what goes into the patient tower in terms of the number of beds and the size and the services. But like you said, Jan about your sister in law receiving palliative care treatment at home, it's those home based services that we want to try and increase. I want it. So do we don't we all, right? That's that's the way to do it. So there's a big push to do that as well and we're working on some initiatives around that.
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The the new long term care facility that's being built in Lanceville will have sixteen beds of hospice care, as well as a thirty-two space facility for respite care for seniors. So day a daycare basically for to give people's caregivers a break, as well as then three hundred plus rooms of long term care. So there's a lot of
Lot of stuff's happening right now, which is really well th this is why it's so important that people like us talk out with our friends and tell them what's happening. Because people heard such bad news for so long about our health care, you know. I had a two year wait for a hip replacement. I mean, I went off to Seattle because I could with UN insurance, but two years here I wouldn't have survived.
I would have I don't know what I would have done. I couldn't even walk the length of the house. Yeah. And when I hear that, you know, it's and what's interesting is we're getting to a place now with hospital leadership where, like, for example, they came to us a couple of weeks ago and said, here's our wait times and here's the wait time for orthopedic surgery, and it's the biggest spike. Like it's really big. And what we could we've done the analysis, we could reduce that wait time, but this percentage, we can do four more surgeries.
a week if we get this equipment. and it we ended up we've ended up guaranteeing the lease on this equipment. The costs our commitment to it's thirty eight thousand dollars a year and that's triggering seven hundred and seventy thousand dollars worth of equipment. A brand new orthopedic surgical equipment. So what we're I'm excited that we're getting in a place where because of support of our donors, we're able to be very
quick and quite responsive to the hospital when they say this is a problem right now, like with ER, the emergency room lineups, you know, we've we've been doing a lot. We bought software for them. We're helping them with recruitment. We help them with equipment. you know, we bought all new monitors in there and all these different things are trying to just anything we can to try and speed it up. And on the recruitment we're making progress. And the most welcome change.
Everything Podcasts (39:25.374)
Yeah. You know? Very definitely. Yeah. we appreciate that. Yeah. We're trying to be that partner with, you know, the hospital leadership, oceanside leadership, long term care leadership and say, what do you need? What do you need now? You know. and we can't always do it. But yeah. 'Cause I remember our dragon boat team. I would paddled on a breast cancer survivor team, a breast of life when I first came.
And we raised money for a new mammogram machine for the hospital out of our and we gave it to the hospital, which was wonderful. 'Cause we all benefited from it. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And we need it. We we might be raising money for a mammogram machine in Oceanside to replace the one there. So that's potentially on the list.
Well, I must have been on a neophyte with you, Barney, and the foundation, but having been involved with BC cancer for so many years, there's so much knowledge and information available that it's the more you get involved, the more you understand, the more you can share. And you know, walking through the daily research lab is enough to send you into the future to know what we're doing here.
So I look forward to a few tours in your hospital, Barney. Excellent. Excellent. Hopefully it'll be of a new Catholic. yeah. My two final questions are for both of you. What has surprised you about the experience of making a meaningful gift? How much I felt great about seeing them actually make a difference. I didn't think I would see that much. But it it's it's wonderful and that is what made me decide I want to give now, not after I'm dead. Is the is actually seeing
Something changed. It really is it makes you feel really good inside. That's awesome. I echo those words because I my phrase is giving with a warm hand. We all c have to be concerned about legacy and I am, and we plan try to plan for that, or without children it it's a different issue than yours, Janet. But to be able to see a little bit of difference or that you've helped and
Everything Podcasts (41:41.482)
you are inspired to perhaps give more and respect the organization and you get respect for what you're doing. politicians don't always respect the taxpayers' money, but private donors enable a lot of things to happen that otherwise wouldn't happen and that's important to me. That's true. It's really true. You you think about other countries and you don't have people giving donations.
It's not in their way of doing things, except to university legacies and things. But here donations serve a lot of purposes, which is good. I think you might have answered my last question, but I'll ask it to you just in case. What would you hope listeners take away from this conversation about women and people in philanthropy? that they would phone us.
That they were w trying to get involved in in the in the in the process. I don't really care what they're giving it to, as long as it has a government s number and it's something that they're passionate about, basically. I wouldn't urge everybody to give to the hospital. I wouldn't urge everybody to give to Milner. It depends on how what they're thinking of and what pleases them.
But I think they should really start start thinking. I can take F on that. I'd you give them an idea. I would like them to feel comfortable to step in and investigate a little bit more what is involved and what perhaps they can give or just get involved and be part of the community. So that's the first step is finding what you're passionate about and then
Doing what you can in whatever way you can. I love it. That's awesome. And I will continue to bring friends to hospital events. Great. I will too. That's well, that's fantastic because like for us, that's one of the it says volumes. Like we're so honored when you choose to bring someone with you. Like that means the world to us that, you know, you believe enough in us to share that with your friends. Like that's huge. Jackie, any closing words?
Everything Podcasts (44:03.416)
Well I thank you for the invitation to join you on the podcast. It was a delight to meet you, Janet. And I offer the same invitation. Come get involved and listen to what's going on because it's very exciting and we can all make a difference in whichever way we can. So you know, don't be shy to step foot in and check it out. And a great way to do that is we have our annual report update is on our website.
And of course all of our annual statements, audited statements are on there as well, so people can do their research. But if you want to learn more, that's a great way to do it.
Everything Podcasts (44:39.768)
Thank you to our guests Janet Fruk and Jackie Clebon for sharing their motivations behind giving so generously and for helping to fund the work we do at the Naimon District Hospital Foundation. I think today's eye-opening moment for those thinking about giving to a charity is just realizing the importance of doing your due diligence before you give. It's important to have a personal connection to your gift, but also to make sure the boxes are all checked. Is the organization a registered charity? Is it fiscally responsible? Will you be able to see real impact from your donation?
Ask these questions before you get out your checkbook. And if you have any other questions, folks like Jackie and Janet are always happy to share their knowledge and experience. We truly can't thank them enough for their time today and for supporting the improvement to healthcare in our community.
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This eye-opening moment is powered by the Code Brew Cafe at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, where every cup you enjoy and every meal you savor helps fuel healthcare excellence in Central Vancouver Island. 100% of Code Brew's profits go directly towards purchasing medical equipment and funding vital projects at NRGH and the other regional health facilities we serve. On the next episode of Harboring Hope, we're taking everything to heart. We'll be talking to Diane Ship Clark of the Heart Sisters, a community support group for women who've experienced a cardiac event.
We'll also chat with Damian Lang about how we are advancing the cardiology program at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. To learn more about the Nanaimo District Hospital Foundation, please visit Nanaimo HospitalFoundation.com.
Another Everything Podcast production. Visit Everything Podcast dot com, a division of Patison Media. Subscribe wherever you get your podcast.