A recent donation to the Surrey Hospitals Foundation will help with the care of the region’s “tiniest little patients,” says a neonatal intensive care unit nurse.
BMO Financial Group partnered with Surrey Hospitals Foundation to donate $250,000 to help further the professional development of pediatric nurses at Surrey Memorial Hospital.
Azra Hussain, the foundation’s chief operating officer, said the funding will go toward 125 scholarships and awards over a five-year period.
“With Surrey being one of the fastest-growing communities in Canada, I think this kind of an investment is really important in the sense, especially in today’s market where we’re looking at rapid growth in our pediatric and maternal services.”
Surrey Memorial Hospital, according to the foundation, is the “pediatric hub” of B.C., as the “largest provider of newborn and pediatric healthcare in the province, treating more than 50,000 babies and children annually.”
“In Fraser Health, basically, we have more than 43 per cent of B.C.’s children who live in Surrey and the surrounding Fraser Valley communities, so if you look at it from that perspective, you know, $250,000 over a five-year period invested in pediatric nursing education means bringing that much impact and value to all of those children.”
For Tina Sangha, the donation is meaningful because it means helping “the tiniest little patients and their families that we work with.”
Sangha, a neonatal intensive care unit nurse, is also a neonatal resuscitation program instructor trainer and she said she plans to use the funding for the Canadian Nurses Association specialty certification.
“I work with the neonatal population, so with this newfound knowledge that I’ll have, I’ll be able to bring it back to my team in the neonatal intensive care unit in Surrey where we’ll be able to apply it to practice and once again impact patient care,” she explained.
Sangha added that as a long-term employee at the hospital – 13 years – it’s been great for the staff to be recognized and have this opportunity to better our nursing education.”
The funding, the hospital foundation notes, will benefit qualified nursing staff at Surrey Memorial who work in the children’s health centre, the NICU, the family birthing unit or the pediatric emergency department.
Hussain said this is also the “largest single investment in pediatric nursing education,” not only in Surrey, but that Fraser Health has ever received.
“We’re proud to support the Surrey Hospitals Foundation as their new pediatric clinical partner. While this program targets pediatric nurses, the benefits will be felt by many children and their families in the region” said James Kitamura, Regional President, Personal Banking, British Columbia and Yukon Region, BMO Bank of Montreal.
lauren.collins@surreynowleader.com
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