A Community Supporting the Front Line - Cambridge Memorial Hospital Foundation

As a Hospital Foundation, we work with our community to raise funds for Cambridge Memorial Hospital. Specifically, we are in the business of investing in our hospital in an effort to put the best tools possible into the hands of our frontline workers so that they can be here for our families, friends, and neighbours when we need them. It is our passion and our purpose.

In March of 2020, the pandemic shined a spotlight on our healthcare heroes and the worldwide shortage of protective equipment to keep them safe. On top of overwhelming financial support, Cambridge Memorial Hospital Foundation heard from our community offering unique solutions, creative approaches, and wonderfully thoughtful sentiments in response to Covid-19. Everyone wanted to connect and support our frontline heroes and their community hospital. That generosity of spirit fuels me to this day.

At the encouragement of our Chief of Staff, Dr. Winnie Lee, our Foundation asked the community to help us with the CMH Sewing Mask Challenge; over 32,000 sewn masks and 1200 scrub caps have since been delivered to CMH by an army of beloved Cambridge Mask Makers.

In addition, the Foundation engaged with hundreds of community members, fielding 300 offers of in-kind support, and over 175 drop-offs of in-kind donations to Galt Country Club and directly to the hospital. Logistically, we had to find ways to get up to speed on the different types of PPE on the market (who knew there were so many!) and store, sort and inventory supplies.

We also had the opportunity to reach out directly to some of our corporate donors and community partners on behalf of the hospital and be the conduit to exploring innovative solutions to frontline supply challenges. The response from our partners was always immediate and with great interest in contributing in any way possible.

In those early days, it was a privilege and honour to provide a direct link to the hospital and quick response time for a community looking to help during a time of crisis. I found myself repeatedly saying ‘what a wonderful community we live in’ each and every day.

As I take a moment to reflect I am grateful that by March, the new wing at Cambridge Memorial Hospital was open with advanced features to enhance infection control within all departments. Because of our community, we were ready to serve our community and we continue to be here when you need us most.