About the Foundation

Mission

The Lady Minto Hospital Foundation raises, stewards and disperses funds to support excellence in patient care and comfort at Lady Minto Hospital for the community it serves.

Vision

To fund the Lady Minto Hospital to provide all necessary education and equipment to allow for optimal functioning of the staff and physicians and ideal care for patients.

Values

Trustworthy – operating in a professional, accountable and collaborative manner
Flexible – honouring past direction while being willing to adapt to changing environments
Community Centred – Funding projects, equipment, and education that has the greatest potential benefit to the health of island residents.
Integrity – functioning in a respectful, cohesive and fiscally responsible manner

About Us

The Lady Minto Hospital Foundation is a registered charity dedicated to raising funds which enhance services and facilities of the hospital on Salt Spring Island. Lady Minto Hospital is a primary care hospital in the Vancouver Island Hospital Authority serving the residents of Salt Spring and the Outer Gulf Islands.

Governed by a volunteer Board of Directors the Foundation bestows grants for equipment, health education, and major renovations. The role of the Board is to manage the Foundation funds prudently, and to raise funds that will ensure the long term preservation of quality health care on the Island while meeting short term needs of providing medical professionals with the tools that they need to do their jobs.

The Lady Minto Hospital Foundation was officially registered as a charitable society on the 24th of February 1992, following a number of years of informal fund raising.

Who Benefits?

As an Islander you and your family do! Contributions are only used at home to ensure local, high quality health care. The Island Health Authority (formerly VIHA) and the Capital Regional Hospital District cannot fund all equipment, but the need for new equipment and upgrading of services is ongoing and must be continually addressed. With the generous support of our donors, the Lady Minto Hospital Foundation is able to provide the funding for new equipment and enhanced services and facilities.

Accomplishments

Over the years Islanders have provided funds for major equipment items in the Laboratory, Cardiac Care, Medical Imaging including Ultrasound, Birthing Suite, Palliative Care Suites and the Endoscopy Suite. Smaller projects and equipment purchases for areas throughout the hospital have also been possible through the generosity of our community. Regular contributions are made annually to the Staff Education Fund as well as the Extended Care Fund which provides comforts and programs for the residential care clients.

History of the Foundation

The Foundation is named after Lady Mary Minto, Founder of Cottage Hospitals, Wife of Governor General of Canada 1898-1904. Fundraising for Lady Minto Hospital has always been a vital activity in the hospital’s history. Lady Minto herself was a prominent philanthropist who instituted a fund for the building of cottage hospitals in remote districts across the country. The Guild of Sunshine was the forerunner of the Lady Minto Hospital Auxiliary on Salt Spring Island and the first organization to begin fundraising. When the six-bed hospital opened in 1914, the Guild had already donated $600 to the building fund (a considerable sum of money in those days).

This is a story of a caring, generous community that very early on recognized the need for the local provision of reliable, high-quality health care. Beginning with a group of high-powered women and a benevolent doctor who provided land and leadership to establish the first small hospital on Salt Spring Island for all of the Gulf Islands, the hospital has benefited from many determined, dynamic, and entrepreneurial individuals and groups who have alternately taken leadership and supporting roles in providing a small community with a first-class facility.

Lady Mary Minto, Founder of Cottage Hospitals
Wife of Governor General of Canada 1898-1904
Photo courtesy of National Archives of Canada

Hospital Services

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Emergency Department

A group of family doctors takes calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. BC Ambulance can transfer patients by ferry or helicopter.

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Obstetrics

Midwives provide low risk obstetric services with nursing support.

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Psychiatry

Lady Minto has a quiet room for psychiatric services.

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Residential Care

The Lady Minto ECU shares a building with a 20 bed Acute Care Unit and includes a multi-function lounge with a well-equipped kitchen, fireplace, piano, large-screen television and tables for dining and for games.

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