Windsor Plywood’s charitable arm has lent a helping hand to critical health care in Nanaimo in the form of a $2 million donation.
With work underway for a new high-acuity unit at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, Windsor Plywood Foundation is gifting $2 million to bolster critical care in the area, stated a press release.
Windsor Plywood was formed by Randle and Frances Jones, who have a history of donating to the Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation, who made their first contribution in 1990 and have made yearly donations from the foundation since 2009. Cathy Brown, Windsor Plywood Foundation executive director and Jones’s daughter, said the contribution has special meaning.
“This donation is particularly meaningful to the Windsor family as it helps honour my father who recently passed away…” she said. “The people of Nanaimo and its surrounding regions have been a large part of Windsor’s success over the last 50 years, and we are delighted to be able to contribute to this important and much-needed critical care addition.”
Dr. Michael Kenyon, NRGH senior intensivist, called the donation “precedent setting.”
“The ICU is the heart of our hospital, enhancing staff morale and clinical skills and helping to drive the evolution and acquisition of essential health-care services desperately needed to improve standard of care in our region and outcomes of residents living in north and central Island,” Kenyon said in the press release.
The Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation expressed gratitude for the donations.
“We believe this gift will inspire others to give where they live for immeasurable and lasting impact today and for years to follow,” said Tony Harris, Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation chairperson, in the release. “Randle led by incredible example and through his generosity has made Vancouver Island a better place to live.”
In 2020, Windsor Plywood Foundation donated $1 million to NRGH’s intensive care unit, which opened this past June.
Donations for NRGH and health care initiatives in the central and north Island regions can be made at http://nanaimohospitalfoundation.com or by calling 250-755-7690.
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