ICMH Charitable Foundation
Skinners Remembered with ICMH Laboratory Donation
Inverness, NS – The Inverness Consolidated Memorial Hospital Charitable Foundation has received a generous gift in memory of Eva & Murdock Skinner and family. Granddaughter of Eva and Murdock, Lorraine Williston, wanted a way to honour the generous nature of her grandparents. Lorraine’s mom, Phyllis Skinner, is the last remaining of nine children raised by Eva and Murdock on Mann Avenue.
“I always loved visiting my grandmother, Eva Skinner, as a child. She was so sweet, loving and generous. And although I never met my grandfather, he was very generous to those in need. Whether anonymously delivering a bag of Christmas presents to a large, needy family or giving food away to the less fortunate. So I thought donating to the Inverness Consolidated Memorial Hospital (ICMH) Charitable Foundation is the perfect way to honour them and Inverness which holds a special place in my heart. I am pleased the donation will help purchase a very important piece of equipment for their laboratory, a Cellavision”, says Lorraine.
And what a wonderful choice it is.
CellaVision is an advanced piece of lab equipment that processes blood morphology results using high speed robotics, digital technology and remote access. CellaVision is also used at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital in Sydney, the QE II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax and St. Martha’s Regional Hospital in Antigonish.
Haley Bishop, manager of Medical Laboratory Services, Nova Scotia Health’s Eastern Zone, knows that adding CellaVision to ICMH laboratory will have a tremendous impact on patient care.
“There are many blood tests taken at the lab in Inverness which are time sensitive and must be sent to Sydney/Halifax for a specialist to review. If the test is not there in time, due to delays because of weather, etc., then the test is not valid,” explains Bishop. “This can be a huge disappointment and could delay the prognosis of a disease and ultimately, the patient’s treatment. Having CellaVision at ICMH will allow the laboratory staff to process the blood tests here and send the results electronically to Sydney/Halifax, etc. for the specialist to review in real time. This will help us get quicker test results and eliminate the need to send these blood tests to Sydney/Halifax, which will ultimately help the patient receive a faster diagnosis and treatment.”
“This is great news for everyone here at ICMH – the CellaVision is a game changer for our patients,” says Brenda Rankin MacDonald, ICMH Charitable Foundation fundraising coordinator. “We are thrilled and most appreciative of the kindness of this donation.”
Lorraine’s cousins and Eva and Murdock’s grandchildren, Scott Skinner and Ruth Skinner, both of Inverness, helped select the CellaVision as the project to fund. Scott is an oncology nurse at ICMH and Ruth is a retired nurse.
“We are thrilled with the CellaVision and know firsthand what a difference it will make for all our patients,” says Skinner. “We believe our grandparents would be very proud.”
For more information
Brenda Rankin MacDonald, ICMH Charitable Foundation
Office: 902-258-2236
Cell: 902-323-0048
