By Dominic Abassi

‘I burst into tears:’ anonymous donor gifts $1M to Nanaimo Hospital Foundation

Dec 21, 2018 | 9:16 AM

NANAIMO — Janice Perrino has watched millions of dollars flow into Nanaimo’s hospital under her watch, but just talking about the latest donation makes her voice crack with emotion.

The Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation received the largest single donation in its history, an anonymous gift of $1 million towards the cardiac care campaign.

“She said I want to meet with you and we’ll sit and talk. I told her about what we were trying to do with the cardiac department and she said ‘Yes I’d like to help and I’d like to give you a million dollars,’” Perrino, the foundation’s chief executive officer, told NanaimoNewsNOW.

“The first thing I did was burst into tears.”

Perrino said the community’s reaction to the campaign, which kicked off just weeks ago, was already incredible. The anonymous gift, combined with $600,000 already raised from individuals, leaves the foundation just $200,000 away from its overall goal.

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“I was able to phone the department and say ‘get going, you can start to buy the equipment, you can start to do the renovations right away.’ Literally within a few days they were ordering $500,000 worth of equipment just to get started.”

The cardiac campaign aimed to purchase state-of-the-art equipment for Nanaimo Regional General Hospital’s cardiology department, as well as renovate to increase the size of the currently cramped space.

NRGH’s cardiology department handles the bulk of cardiac care north of the Malahat and the current space is too small, has outdated machinery and can’t handle the number of patients necessary to reduce wait lists.

“The wait list will be dropped by at least 50 per cent just like that thanks to these upgrades…Patients won’t have to go to Victoria every single time they need a test, we can take care of about 95 per cent of their care in Nanaimo and that’s amazing,” Perrino said.

The anonymous donor simply recognized the need and the potential benefit to thousands of people, Perrino said.

“She knows our need is great and the hospital is an incredible place with amazing staff who deserve the best…When you have the ability to make a big difference like that, they want to do it.

“It’s an incredible gift,” Perrino said in a shaking voice.

You can still donate to the cardiac or future campaigns by visiting the foundation’s website.

dom@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @domabassi