By Pepper Parr
September 28th, 2017
BURLINGTON, ON
They will be knocking on your door in the very near future – they might have done so already.
They are the Joseph Brant Hospital Fund raising volunteers
Canvassers will be wearing vests with the hospital logo and carrying an ID badge.
These canvassers are asking residents to join the Dedicated Donors Club with a monthly donation in support of our community hospital.
These donation are sort of like the promotion at the supermarket – you know those two for the price of one.
For every dollar you donate the Paletta Family will match that donation. Think about that – makes reaching the target a lot easier.
The Pasquale and Anita Paletta Family Match Challenge, which will run until $5 Million is donated and matched.
It was a rainy day – which didn’t seem to matter. Hundreds of Burlingtonians flooded into Spencer Smith Park and formed up unto a massive J in an attempt to set a new Guinness Book of Records number.
So far more than $3 Million has been raised and matched by the Paletta Family, bringing the New Era Campaign to over $56M: the goal is $60M goal.
This campaign will continue to raise awareness and funds in support of the redevelopment and expansion project currently underway at Joseph Brant Hospital.
Each canvasser will be wearing a vest and have photo I.D. which confirms they are working on behalf of the Joseph Brant Hospital Foundation.
The new front door to the Joseph Brant Hospital.
There is a short (two minutes) video that gives you nice look see of the new addition. Annisa Hilborn, President of the Hospital Foundation, tells the story about how the hospital got rebuilt. Worth the time viewing.
Add my name to the long, long list of disgruntled Burlington residents who won’t be contributing to this fundraising campaign. The quality of care at JBMH is truly deplorable. Eric Vandewall needs to seriously address the crisis of confidence that many in this community feel regarding this hospital, its service and its administration. Slick fundraising campaigns won’t erase the bad memories many of us have experienced.
Compared to Oakville Trafalgar JBMH is a second rate institution at best.
So many bad experiences at this hospital, most trivial but one that had the potential to deform my child because of ER incompetence. Had it not been for the tremendous doctors at Mac (who were able to correct Joe Brant’s errors), my son would be without the use of his arm. Also, for ER room visits, it is worth the drive to St. Joes for time saving.
A fancy new wing is not going to change the culture at this hospital.
I will politely say ‘no thank you’ to any canvasser at my door. It is bad enough that I am forced to contribute to this hospital via my property tax.
Kerri, I agree totally with your position– the new construction will not cure the culture of indifference that permeates JBMH. When my mother experienced poor care by one of the nurses in intensive care in 2009 (I should add that many of the staff were excellent), I left two messages with the head of the unit to call me. I’m still waiting for a response. Unfortunately, this was not the only time that supervisors failed to respond professionally. Unlike you, I won’t even be polite when a canvasser calls.
It is my understanding that the JBH is a private hospital with government funding and lots of donors. Why is it necessary to ask for more money when compared to other hospitals in the area the rating is not as good? If it was rated higher people would be more inclined to donate. Lack of staff and beds has contributed to this problem. We are waiting to see if the deficiencies have been corrected with the new addition.
Editor’s note:, The Joseph Brant Hospital is a public hospital that is funded by the province. When it was evident that the hospital needed serious upgrades the hospital public had to put up just over half of the money – $120 million. Taxpayers had to pay a total of $60 million (it appears on your property tax bill as a seperate line item – hospital tax levy); the Hospital Foundation was expected to raise a second $60 million.
If you had been reading the Gazette you would have known that.