Executive director of the Dunnville Hospital and Healthcare Foundation, Shelley Rollo, along with Foundation assistant Sarah Hyatt and board member Lyne Hyatt, were busy
ensuring locally-donated door prizes were all in order, while Eatery staff did last minute preparation on the patio. Rollo remarked, “The ride is a great fund raiser. It’s not at all labour intensive, thanks to the organization of Baldwin and Chris Boyce. All proceeds go to the Foundation’s Endowment Fund to ensure the future vitality of healthcare in our community.” Baldwin originally approached the hospital with the charity ride proposal after a positive healthcare experience there, and, “so far the event has raised in excess of $10,000 over three years-the ride has been growing steadily,†noted Rollo, “with 80 bikes registered in 2009, along with a number of ‘guests’.†Dunnville is justifiably proud of its ranking among the top four small hospitals in all of Ontario, and is working to retain that high standard. As Rollo explained, “Basically, the Foundation supports buildings and equipment. Right now we’re in the middle of a $3.5 million campaign to fund construction costs of the hospital’s new primary healthcare centre. The centre has been instrumental in attracting three new doctors to the community, and houses the family healthcare team.” In 1997, when Dunnville’s hospital was in danger of being downgraded to a tertiary facility, 4,000 citizens rallied downtown to strongly defend the preservation of quality local healthcare.
With events such as Sunday’s ‘Ride for the Future’, and the work of the Healthcare Foundation, it would seem the town is determined to maintain access to comprehensive health services.