On April 8th, 2025, Erie Shores Health Foundation celebrated the opening of two newly renovated palliative rooms on the second floor of Erie Shores HealthCare alongside Transition to Betterness.
The project was made possible by generous donations from The Iacobelli Family and LiUNA!625 in partnership with Transition to Betterness.
Jeff Burrows, Community Relations Coordinator, and Rob Petroni, Business Manager, of LIUNA!625 were honoured to join the ribbon cutting ceremony. “LiUNA 625 is pleased to partner with T2B and Erie Shores Health Foundation in their mission to extend compassion and comfort to patients and their families as they navigate through difficult times. This initiate aligns perfectly with LiUNA’s Building Better Communities initiative,” stated Business Manager Rob Petroni.
“We are so honoured to name this beautiful space as a gift to our parents,” shared Sandra and Lou Macera about one of the rooms. “We are thrilled this space will have a positive impact on patient care at Erie Shores HealthCare.”
With their valued support, Erie Shores HealthCare will be able to provide palliative care to patients in a fresh and comforting environment.
“We are very grateful to have partnered with Transition to Betterness and the generous donors that made this project possible,” shared Penny Bellhouse, Executive Director of Erie Shores Health Foundation. “The impact of this project will undoubtedly be felt by both care providers and patients of Erie Shores HealthCare.”
Pictured from left to right: Andrew Lapico (Board Member, Transition to Betterness), Jeff Burrows (Community Relations Director, LiUNA!625), Renee Laforet (Board Member, Transition to Betterness), Doris Lapico (Co-founder & Board Member, Transition to Betterness), Kristin Kennedy (President & CEO, Erie Shores HealthCare), Gloria Cavenago (Development Officer, Erie Shores Health Foundation), Rob Petroni (Business Manager, LiUNA!625), and Penny Bellhouse (Executive Director, Erie Shores Health Foundation).
As Erie Shores HealthCare prepares to officially open their permanent MRI Suite, Erie Shores Health Foundation (ESHF) is calling on the community one last time, through the One Week, One Million initiative, to help reach the $5 million fundraising goal for the MRI Project.
An amazing $3.5 million of the $5 million goal has been contributed to date from generous donors such as Sun-Brite and Unico, Neighbourhood Charitable Alliance, Abraham Orthodontics, Double Diamond Farms, various local service clubs, individuals, and anonymous donors. Fundraisers such as Kids Curing Cancer are still working hard to contribute to complete the MRI Suite with finishing touches.
ESHF’s One Week, One Million initiative highlights the urgent need for an additional $1.5 million in donations and encourages the community to be a part of this once in a generation opportunity and make an impact that will be felt for generations to come by making a donation to the project this week.
“Raising the remaining $1.5 million means that our community will have access to state-of-the-art, advanced MRI imaging on a permanent basis. It also means that we can move forward on the next steps of the Erie Shores HealthCare vision to revitalize our hospital and further advance care in our community,” said Penny Bellhouse, Executive Director of Erie Shores Health Foundation. “We are so close! Join us this week and make your donation to MRI.”
Donations to the MRI Project can be made online at https://eshcfoundation.akaraisin.com/ui/eshf/donations/start?it=1&amt=75 , and by mail or in-person. The ESHF office is in the Leamington Medical Village at 197 Talbot Street West, Suite 211, Leamington, ON. N8H 1N8.
We are filled with gratitude for the generosity of The Lewis Family after cutting the ribbon on the ICU Family Room inside of Erie Shores HealthCare earlier today. The Lewis Family made a very generous donation dedicated to revamping the Family Room in loving memory of Helen Lewis.
Friends and family of ICU patients will now have a warm and inviting space to meet and lounge.
The Lewis Family also supported ESHC’s week of staff appreciation by providing Turkey Dinner to all staff!
From CTV News
Erie Shores Healthcare had some action on Wednesday morning as a new MRI magnet was moved in.
The magnet was transferred with the help of a crane, going into the first floor of the hospital.
This upgrade follows the mobile unit’s 1000th MRI test.
The new tech is expected to reduce patient wait times for the surrounding areas.
“We know with our mobile unit, we’ve been able to recently reduce the wait times by four to six weeks,” said Beth Hall, director of corporate services.
“But we’re hopeful now that the permanent unit is within the building, we’ll be able to realize more efficiencies. We’ll be working with the region to reduce the wait times across the region.”
The permanent MRI suite is expected to be up and running by the end of this year.
From the Southpoint Sun
Urology patients in Essex County now have a shorter trip to their appointments with Monday’s announcement that Erie Shores HealthCare has reinstated their urology department.
According to ESHC President and CEO Kristin Kennedy, the return of urology to Leamington is the first since 2017.
Urology procedures will be conducted twice a week in ESHC’s operating rooms, which enhances access to specialized care for residents of Essex County.
The program was bolstered by a $300,000 donation from Erie Shores Health Foundation, a large part of which was a $250,000 private donation from Larry and Marcia Pollard of Harrow. The rest of the ESHF donation was raised through their recent Show Us Your Stache campaign.
For Larry Pollard, the announcement is important and timely.
A urology patient for the past nine years, Larry understands the value of having these services close to home first-hand and is encouraging anyone who can join him in donating to the program, to do so.
“My condition controlled my life for nine years already,” he says. “Now, I can interact with my family and feel healthy doing it. My future would not look so bright if it was not for urology services.”
Larry added that he believes in saving other patients the painful and time-consuming trips down the highway to Windsor or London.
The program is a collaboration through a strategic partnership with a local urologists group headed by Dr. Karim Marzouk.
“This is a big day for us where we can look forward to delivering high quality sub-specialized care to patients in our communities,” says Dr. Marzouk. “We have a full complement of urologists who will come through here.”
Dr. Marzouk, who is originally from Newfoundland, says he’s very aware of the need in rural communities and how these challenges exist all across Canada.
The County of Essex also contributed $200,000 through their annual funding, and Kristin Kennedy is grateful to all for their contributions.
“This partnership ensures that our patients receive vital specialized care close to home,” she said. “Together, we are transforming what it means to receive care in a rural community.”
From AM 800
Abraham Orthodontics has made a $50,000 donation for Erie Shores Healthcare’s first MRI machine.
Abraham Orthodontics hosted 500 people across Windsor-Essex at Mastronardi Estate Winery to raise funds to help bring MRI to Essex County.
A number of businesses also donated raffle prizes, supported a 50/50 raffle and pledge amounts that were then doubled by Abraham Orthodontics.
Last year, they raised $15,000 in an initial effort with a Holiday Social event.
Dr. Maxwell Abraham, owner and orthodontist at Abraham Orthodontics, says they’re thrilled with the outcome of the event.
“The need is huge, there’s a big gap in funding for getting the physical equipment in, and historically it always just relies on the community to step up to do our part to make sure that everybody in the county can access something really important – especially like MRI’s where the wait times can be so long.”
He says he appreciates everyone who stepped up to help.
“We had great sponsors like Lester [Group], Canadian Tire and Atlas Tube who really led the way in the fundraising, and then made us think that we can keep pushing. And Mastronardi Winery, their chefs there too, also throughout the process just kept elevating the event, and pushing us to do more.”
Dr. Abraham says access to MRI is really important in the county.
“It was just such a fun event to see people we knew, people we didn’t know, friends of friends. We have such a strong community in Essex County where especially for stuff like this, people do always deliver, they do always come together, and especially before the holiday’s it really helps kick off that holiday season for everyone as well.”
Abraham says those at Erie Shores and the Erie Shores Health Foundation have been working extremely hard to being services to those in the county.
The permanent MRI suite is expected to be up and running by the end of this year.
Once the permanent MRI unit is open, it will operate eight hours per day, five days per week, and is expected to perform between 1,000 and 1,500 tests per year.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ‘STACHES, SHOW US YOUR ‘STACHE AND/OR PLEDGE A ‘STACHE
ESSEX COUNTY, ON – Friday, November 1, men across Essex County join Erie Shores Health Foundation’s ‘Show Us Your Stache’ campaign, growing their facial hair to support the return or Urology at Erie Shores HealthCare. Leading the campaign launch with his ‘stache is local musician, Jody Raffoul.
“It has been eight years since our hospital has offered urology services for men in our community,” said Kristin Kennedy, President and CEO of Erie Shores HealthCare. “Bringing Urology back is the next step in our commitment to providing essential care services close to home.”
Urology is key in preventing and treating diseases within the urinary and reproductive systems such as kidney stones and prostate cancer. The project will include making necessary upgrades to the Operating Room to accommodate Urology, the hiring of a permanent Urologist, and the purchase of pertinent supplies.
The “Show Us Your ‘Stache” campaign is a primarily online and social media initiative in which men from across Essex County are uploading pictures of themselves with a freshly shaven face and will be actively sharing their personal donation links to raise pledges for the campaign as their moustaches grow throughout the month of November. At the beginning of December, the photos on the campaign webpage will be updated to show the progress of each moustache.
“I am blown away by the positive response to this campaign from the men in our community, even those who claim they cannot grow a moustache,” said Penny Bellhouse, Executive Director of Erie Shores Health Foundation. “If you have not already, we are encouraging you to either show your own ‘stache or donate to a ‘stache you love on our webpage for Urology this Movember.”
You can join Jody Raffoul and the number of men leading Erie Shores Health Foundation’s “Show Us Your ‘Stache” campaign or pledge a participant at https://eshcfoundation.akaraisin.com/ui/movember.
Together, we can once again make a mark in healthcare close to home.
May 26th, 2024 – Erie Shores HealthCare introduced its new mammography unit and “Breast Days” program!
Thanks to funds donated from the Yes Ma’am Fashion Show event, the new mammography machine has a contrast-enhanced imaging component that is pivotal in accurate and efficient detection and diagnosis.
We also unveiled the newly renovated space thanks to a generous donation from Mat and Tania Iacobelli.
At the unveiling, Carolyn Fordyce, patient of ESHC, discussed how all of these enhancements changed her mammography and diagnostic imaging experience for the better.
Click HERE to read the full media release.
Special thank you to The Flower Shop at Thiessen’s for donating the beautiful flowers and to Julie Amlin for the lovely mural pictured!
