Pac Blue Cross offers support for mental health at LGH
Pacific Blue Cross representatives (l to r) Fan Darbyshire and Julia Kaisla offered their support for helping speed the recovery of mental health clients with a $5,000 donation to lifestyle and recreational equipment for the new HOpe Centre. LGH Foundation Director of Gift Planning Joanne McLellan and Dr. Allan Burgmann, Medical Manager of Acute Care Psychiatry gratefully accepted.
Lions Gate Hospital received a little help from the blues – Pacific Blue Cross that is – this week when the health benefit organization donated $5,000 to purchase lifestyle and recreational equipment for the new HOpe Centre. The funds are targeted towards helping speed the recovery of mental health clients, and were wholeheartedly welcomed by Dr. Allan Burgmann, Medical Manager of Acute Care Psychiatry.
“This kind of investment in our services is extremely important because clients tend to require longer stays in our acute mental health unit than your typical patient on an acute medical unit,” says Dr. Allan Burgmann. “And we know that improving our patient environment can result in better care outcomes.”
Pacific Blue Cross Corporate Communications Manager Julia Kaisla says the decision by their new health foundation to contribute to the new HOpe Centre was “unanimous” and one that doesn’t stop at money. “Our staff are fantastic and show their support by being willing to donate books, CDs, DVDs and other items that can help brighten the lives of people affected by these kinds of illnesses.”
Kaisla believes that Pacific Blue Cross employees are motivated by the desire to help others and recognize that they, too, can be affected by mental health or addiction challenges. “In some cases, the lives of our staff have been touched by the programs run by your staff.”
LGH Foundation Director of Gift Planning, Joanne McLellan welcomed the generosity of the Pacific Blue Cross Foundation to contribute to the new HOpe Centre, noting that, “It can be difficult to find groups of people like this, as often organizations prefer to rally around something like the purchase of a particular piece of medical equipment.”