Services de santé de Chapleau Health Services is pleased to announce that the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) Foundation has granted our Hospital Foundation $85,000 towards the purchase of a new washer/disinfector and autoclave sterilizer for our Medical Device Reprocessing Department (MDRD), as well as four new isolation carts.

The new MDRD washer/disinfector and autoclave sterilizer will help keep our residents, patients, community, and staff safe from the introduction and spread of COVID and other infectious diseases as they are used to disinfect and sterilize medical equipment.

The new machines will also save our hospital tens of thousands of dollars a year in maintenance costs, money we must spend in order to keep our current obsolete machines running.

The isolation carts will enable easy access to personal protective equipment for our staff and visitors and will allow safe storage of supplies, which also assists in infection control.

This grant is part of the CMA Foundation COVID-19 Community Hospital Fund, which is providing $5 million in grants to support community hospitals across the country.

"These are extraordinary times that require extraordinary support,” says Allison Seymour, CMA Foundation president. "I am inspired every day by the dedication of Canada’s physicians, health care providers, and all hospital workers. Our hope is that these funds will have a positive impact on your hospital and your community as you continue to navigate the challenges of the pandemic.”

“We are so grateful to the CMA Foundation for creating the Community Hospital Fund to assist small hospitals with COVID relief funds,” says SSCHS CEO, Jérémy Stevenson. “This new equipment will put us in a much better position to handle a pandemic both now and in the future.”

The CMA Foundation is responding to the pandemic by committing a historic contribution: more than $20 million to support frontline health workers, hospitals, medical learners, and innovation in medicine and $10 million to support community-led relief efforts for vulnerable populations across Canada.

For more information about the CMA Foundation, please visit www.cmaf-fmac.org.