With a price tag of $7,000, the Oceanside Health Centre is teaming up with the Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation to raise money to replace all of their vital signs monitors at their Parksville location. (Dreamstime)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

important health equipment

Oceanside Health Centre fundraising to replace essential ‘Vital Signs’ monitors

Mar 21, 2025 | 5:24 AM

PARKSVILLE — Fundraising is underway to replace the aging vital signs monitors at the Oceanside Health Centre, with Nanaimo’s hospital charity lending a hand.

The Nanaimo District & Hospital Foundation (NDHF) is helping to raise money to replace all 34 vital sign monitors at the Oceanside Health Centre (OHC) in Parksville.

Dr. Drew Digney with the OHC said they are simple but incredibly important tools, with the original monitors still in use from when they opened their doors 13 years ago.

“There’s a reason why we call them vital signs. They’re not only vital for you, they’re vital for us to know. They do make a huge difference in how you approach things. The Canadian Triage and Acuity Score, which lets us know the order that sometimes we need to see people in, a lot of it is based on the vital signs, so they are really important.”

The monitors can check a patient’s blood pressure, pulse, and other vital signs, as well as perform examinations on the eyes and ears, and are especially important in an urgent care setting.

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Digney said their centre was designed to see around 70-80 people per day, but they’re currently seeing upwards of 150 people during their 14-hour days.

Those without a primary care provider in the Nanaimo area are a big reason for the increase, with many making the drive to Parksville instead of waiting for an emergency visit at NRGH, Digney said.

With the vital sign monitors in use multiple times per day, the wear and tear is starting to show, sometimes forcing them to troubleshoot issues with the machine, according to Digney.

“It’s not infrequent that I have to go in and sort of do a bit of jerry-rigging myself to make sure everything is working. We’ve had them repaired, but of course, these things have a life span and they’re pretty much there.”

He said without the support from the NDHF, they would have to wait until the machines fully give out before being able to replace them, with each machine costing around $7,000.

“It really would be just having to wait in line and make our case (to Island Health), and once things get to the point where they aren’t functioning, well they do get replaced eventually, but in the meantime, it can be a bit frustrating…NDHF is amazing, they do incredible work, and we’re so thankful they are there doing what they do, it just helps us out.”

Donations can be made online at the NDHF website here or by calling them at 250-755-7690.

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