A longstanding golf tournament and gala fundraiser at Osprey Links Golf Course swung into action Tuesday, continuing its mission to raise essential funds for medical equipment at the North Bay Regional Health Centre. With the swing of a club, more than 150 golfers teed off. The tournament was co-founded 29 years ago by former Ontario Premier Mike Harris and the late Peter Minogue, the golf course’s founder. The event, sometimes called a cornerstone of local philanthropy, raises close to $100,000 each year. Tribute to co-founder “It’s kind of special for me and helps me remember Peter and all that he’s contributed,” Harris said. Family connection For the last three editions of the charity tournament, Foraco Canada has been the title sponsor, each year contributing $10,000. “My wife works in diagnostic imaging at the North Bay Regional Health Centre as well. So, it goes towards something that she’s near and dear to,” Matthew Black, the drilling services company’s commercial manager, told CTV News. Upgrades to X-Ray, fluoroscopy and ultrasound The North Bay Regional Health Centre Foundation says it will use the money to purchase an additional ultrasound machine and make upgrades to X-Ray and fluoroscopy. In total, it’s a $3.8 million project. As part of the investment, upgrades will be made to three X-Ray suites, to a mobile X-Ray unit and to two fluoroscopy suites. These machines are a necessity for pregnancy but also for screening cancer, in particular for breast ultrasound to diagnose breast cancer at a faster rate. Addressing growing demands “When you support our hospital, you’re supporting the health care of each and every person in our community, your friends, your family and your loved ones,” Tammy Morison, the foundation’s president and CEO said. “What that means is reduced wait times. Also, it helps us attract medical professionals like radiologists who will be employed as part of reading these scans.” The fundraiser and gala come at a time when hospital staff continue to see patients coming for health care with more complex conditions at a younger age. “Our aging population and the increasing demand on units like our emergency department and with physician shortages of today, that certainly presents new challenges,” said Lise St. Marseille, the hospital’s vice president. “We’re seeing things like cancer and diabetes starting in people’s 30s and 40s, not 60s or 70s. Those are some of the things that our hospital staff work through each and every day.” The community can unlock a 2:1 matching $1,000,000 donation from the FDC Foundation, based out of Mississauga, if it raises $500,000 before New Year’s Eve. This is in addition to FDC Foundation’s initial $500,000 gift toward the project. “Health care is a combination of some of your own money, a lot of federal government, provincial government money, and fundraising,” Harris said.
