The leader of the Back the Cat campaign says fundraisers are “close” to the goal of securing funds needed to get a CT or “Cat” Scanner running at North Hastings Hospital.
But there’s still some work to do to cross the finish line.
North Hastings Fund Development Committee Chair Kim Bishop says the original goal to raise $2.5 million has been upped to $2.8 million, due to rising construction and supply costs.
But, she says, the campaign’s early success has prompted Quinte Health to act. By spring, before some community events, fundraisers had already secured $2.2 million from big donors.
“We are very close. Quinte Health took some faith in that the community would come through,” she says. “They started the renovations (at North Hastings Hospital) in good faith to not hold things up any further. We are still fundraising.”
Bishop says the CT scanner could arrive in November, and be in use by December. In the meantime, Back the Cat campaign workers continue to support and recognize donors.
The North Hastings District Hospital Auxiliary recently announced it had achieved $100,000 worth of fundraising for Back the Cat. The Auxiliary has pledged to fundraise $300,000 over a number of years.
The first $100,000 was raised through proceeds from the Corner Café, the New to You store, the Tim Hortons Smile Cookie campaign, and the Moose FM Back the Cat Radiothon held in August.