We Serve. That is the motto of Lions Clubs around the world, made up of groups of community-minded individuals dedicated to coming together to serve their communities and make a difference through kindness. All qualities that ring true of our local Kitchener Pioneer Lions Club, exemplified through their recent and generous support of Grand River Hospital Foundation.
Inspired by the personal experiences of some of their Lions, the Kitchener Pioneer Lions Club was compelled to donate in support of medical equipment that will have a profound impact on treatment and care for local cancer and kidney care patients. Their generous gift of just over $77,000 funded a stereotactic body radiation therapy board for Grand River Regional Cancer Centre and eight specially designed dialysis chairs for the hospital’s in-centre hemodialysis unit.
Stereotactic body radiation therapy, also known as SBRT, is a type of radiation treatment for cancer patients that uses a collection of focused radiation beams to treat tumours — it is also the most effective radiation treatment method for tumours in the chest cavity and abdomen. Precision is key in this type of treatment, so the stereotactic body radiation therapy board is designed to keep patients completely still and has a customizable set up to allow clinicians to deliver the most accurate treatment possible.
Kidney care patients, on the other hand, require a treatment called dialysis that filters potentially harmful waste, water and chemicals from their blood when their kidneys no longer can. Dialysis treatments usually take place three times each week, and every treatment is about four hours long. This means a lot of time is spent at the hospital’s hemodialysis unit, so new, specially designed dialysis chairs will provide patients with a better, more comfortable experience. These new chairs are designed especially for frequent and ongoing use (rather than one-time procedures) and are electrically adjustable with three separate sections — a leg rest, a seat and a back — for the maximum safety and comfort of patients during lengthy dialysis treatments.
Many don’t realize that hospitals don’t receive government funding for certain types of expenses, such as medical equipment — rather, this is what is considered the community share, which means we rely solely on our community members and local organizations, like our Lions Clubs, for support to be able to enhance treatment and care in these ways.
Thank you to the Kitchener Pioneer Lions Club both for their generosity and for challenging the other clubs of Waterloo Region to donate in support of new and additional medical equipment for Grand River Hospital. To make a donation or learn more about how you can make a difference in health care for our community, visit the Kidney Care and Cancer Care areas on our website at careneverstops.ca.
