It Takes Two

Our Hospital relies on teamwork. Physicians, nurses, and other professionals work together daily to ensure patients across Durham Region receive exceptional health care.

The Anne and Charles Morison Endowment Fund and Kelly Burger Legacy Endowment Fund also worked together recently to bring an essential piece of equipment to the Rapid Response Oncology Clinic (RROC) in the R.S. McLaughlin Durham Regional Cancer Centre. Similar to an urgent care clinic, the RROC provides timely access for cancer patients who are experiencing side effects from their care.

Endowment funds are a deeply personal and impactful way of addressing our Hospital’s immediate and long-term needs. An endowment fund is held and invested by Lakeridge Health Foundation in perpetuity – this means forever. The income earned each year is applied toward patient care priorities, usually in consultation with the endowment fund donors or their family members.

Anne and Charles Morison have been friends and supporters of Lakeridge Health Foundation for decades and were very enthusiastic about establishing an endowment fund with our Foundation when the opportunity became available. When it came to spending the yearly income from their fund, they wanted to focus on cancer care.

In December 2020, Brooklyn Burger-Jacobs and her family worked with our Foundation to launch a campaign to raise the $25,000 needed to start an endowment fund in honour of her mom, Kelly Burger. Kelly had Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and was thrilled to see Brooklyn’s early success. Sadly, Kelly passed away on January 9, 2021. Brooklyn continued her commitment to honouring her mom and the Kelly Burger Legacy Fund has since surpassed $100,000 through the generous support of many thoughtful donors. Kelly’s legacy will support cancer care at our Hospital.

The Morisons and Brooklyn learned about the impact a phlebotomy (blood drawing) chair could have on the RROC and decided to combine the disbursements from their funds to purchase the chair together.

“Although bloodwork is a vital procedure in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, it can be a very scary and uncomfortable experience,” says Brooklyn. “The blood drawing chair aims to relieve this anxiety by keeping patients as comfortable as possible while they are having their bloodwork done.”

Since arriving in March, patients and staff have benefitted from the new chair. Patients requiring bloodwork now have a comfortable seat that can adjust to meet their physical needs, and this specialized chair is also easier for patients to get in and out of. It can even accommodate procedures that require the patient to be lying flat.

“This chair has provided our staff with the ability to perform their work safely while reducing the risk for work-related injuries,” explains Darrilyn Lessels, Patient Care Manager, Durham Regional Cancer Centre. “Staff are very pleased to have this new equipment. They are thankful for the opportunity we have to work with the Foundation and its donors to make equipment purchases like this possible.”

The chair operates at a height that allows RROC team members to comfortably prepare patients for these procedures, alleviating pressure and strain on team members’ necks, legs and backs.

“I would like to give a huge thank you to the donors,” Darrilyn said. “Thank you for seeing the value in investing in equipment that supports safe patient care.”

We are most grateful to Anne and Charles Morison and Brooklyn Burger-Jacobs and her community of supporters for their kindness and support of exceptional patient care, close to home.