Local philanthropists, Brock and Willa Napier, have a passion for Muskoka health care initiatives. Today the couple presented a cheque for $500,000 to the South Muskoka Hospital Foundation (SMHF). “It brings us great joy to do this while we’re still alive rather than to put it in our will,” said Brock Napier. “It helps others and encourages other donors to hop on board as well. In order for hospitals to survive nowadays, they need private individuals to contribute, so we felt we had to do what we can.”
The Napiers are year-round Muskoka residents from Minett. They have specified that their gift be put toward replacing the existing CT scanner at south Muskoka Memorial Hospital in Bracebridge, which is now more than nine years old. The proposal to replace the CT scanner is part of the upcoming ‘Get Better’ capital campaign to support $6.5 million of technology improvements at the hospital. A new CT scanner will not only reduce radiation exposure to patients by 70 percent but will also operate 10 times faster, thereby reducing patient discomfort and allowing for clearer images. The total cost for the new CT will be approximately $1 million.
“We are extremely grateful,” said Colin Miller, SMHF Executive Director, “to have people like the Napiers living in the community and supporting the hospital. They value health care initiatives and are willing to step forward and encourage others to do so as well.” Natalie Bubela, Chief Executive Officer at MAHC, says gifts like the Napiers’ are critical to ensuring that life-saving equipment is available when patients need it.
PHOTO:Â Â (From left to right) J. Douglas Lamb, Campaign Chair; Natalie Bubela, CEO at Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare; Brock Napier, philanthropist; and Paul Hammond, Chair of the South Muskoka Hospital Foundation.