by Lynne Clifford‑Ward, KDH Foundation
The Kemptville District Hospital Foundation is in the process of raising $2.2 million to bring a CT Scanner to the hospital. What follows is the hospital’s chronological story, how it came to be, how the community has generously supported the hospital over the decades, how it has physically transformed since 1960 and why the current fundraising campaign is such an important Crossroads for the hospital and the community.
Expansion of Surgery Programmes at KDH
The hospital’s capacity to serve and build a healthier community has correspondingly grown with the community it serves. It is recognized as a solid community asset, one which continues to draw new residents to the area.
Since October 17, 2011, in partnership with The Ottawa Hospital, KDH has offered orthopaedic surgery. Only a handful of small hospitals in North America perform this surgery, such as Total Joint Replacement (TJR) knee and hip surgery. This relieves a backlog of patients waiting for new hips and knees in the Ottawa area. Well over 3,000 knee and hip replacement surgeries have since been performed at KDH. In 2016, KDH achieved 100% in Accreditation, an outstanding result and the highest ranking bestowed by Accreditation Canada.
More surgical services were offered in 2019, including microdiscectomies or spinal surgeries. These life changing back surgeries were made possible by the Foundation’s purchase of a $261,000 state‑of‑the‑art spinal microscope, the Zeiss Tivato 700. Dr. Colin Sentongo, KDH’s Chief of Staff, said at the time, “as a small community hospital, KDH continues to punch well above our weight. This is usually done at larger tertiary care hospitals.”
Current Partnerships and Services:
KDH Communications Officer, Jenny Read, currently describes the hospital and its services as follows: “24‑hour emergency care, inpatient care, advanced orthopedic surgery (as a satellite of The Ottawa Hospital), Convalescent Care, Interim Long‑Term Care, Day Surgery, Diagnostic Imaging, an ever‑growing list of outpatient clinics, and education and wellness programming including Diabetes Education and Support. Committed to advancing our mission of Building Healthier Communities, we are an integrated health services organization with deep partnerships in our community and region. With our partners in the Ottawa West Four Rivers Ontario Health Team, we are collaborating on a new model of health care delivery that puts patients, families and caregivers at the centre of the health care system.”
And now, in 2024, Kemptville District Hospital is at another Crossroads.
CT Scanner Crossroads Campaign
We are all witnessing the vigorous growth of North Grenville. Dr. Sentongo, recently commented, “with our changing demographics and population, we need to be prepared for more growth. Having a CT Scanner is an essential part of this planning.”
The “call to action” in 2024 is to bring a CT Scanner to Kemptville District Hospital. This vital diagnostic tool is desperately needed and will bring better, faster and closer to home care. Dr. Sentongo described the CT Scanner as, “the gold standard requirement to operate a modern ER.”
