Golf tournament organizers finished their round by making a six-figure donation toward a new high-acuity unit at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
Friends of Pat Docherty donated $103,000 from a memorial tournament in his name, the Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation announced in a social media post this week. Money will be spent on equipment for a new HAU in the same complex where a new intensive care unit is nearing completion, said Barney Ellis-Perry, hospital foundation CEO.
Don Slaughter, a friend of longtime Nanaimo resident Docherty, said Nov. 17 would have been Pat’s 61st birthday. The tournament began as a golf day among friends in 2014 with money raised for various charities over the years. The tournament was dedicated to Pat after he died in late 2016 and the hospital foundation has been the beneficiary since 2020. Close to $241,000 has been raised for the foundation in that time, according to Slaughter.
“Pat was basically just a friend to many,” he said. “I think with a majority of us being born and raised here in Nanaimo, and going through school and sports, he touched lots of people’s lives … he was just a good athlete, and a good friend. I think anytime you lose somebody at a young age, it’s always a shock … And I think that this really opened everybody’s eyes to how short life is.”
Ellis-Perry said $5 million has been raised for intensive-care equipment and a $3 million campaign for high-acuity equipment is expected to begin shortly.
“What this does is effectively doubles our capacity,” he said. “Should there be another pandemic or something horrendous or a major … accident or a natural disaster, the new ICU has taken us from nine beds to 12 beds and the new HAU adds in effect another 12 beds.”
The three-storey building housing the ICU and HAU is nearing completion and is anticipated to be fully operational by next fall. Certain donation thresholds come with room naming rights, and the HAU will be called the Pat Docherty high-acuity unit, “which is awesome,” said Ellis-Perry.
The next tournament is already scheduled for Fairwinds Golf Club next August.
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karl.yu@nanaimobulletin.com
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