Each year Queens General Hospital Foundation sends out Annual Appeal Letters. Here is 2025’s QGHF Annual Appear Letter:
Download and View previous years Appeals in PDF form below:
Queens General Hospital Foundation investing millions to expand access to health care
Queens County residents will be able to stay closer to home for vital testing, thanks to an investment by the Queens General Hospital Foundation.
The foundation recently invested almost $400,000 to install a new echocardiogram and cardiopulmonary exercise testing machine at Queens General in Liverpool.
Al Doucet, a retired physician who is chairman of the hospital foundation, said that means that cardiologists and internal medicine specialists can now see more people here.
“They’re significant because they bring to Liverpool testing that otherwise was not available anywhere else, people had to travel for this,” Doucet told QCCR.
“But also, people that are in hospital, that are hospital patients, this equipment, especially the echocardiogram, it’s movable so that it can go up to the floors where people are sick so they don’t even have to come out of their hospital rooms and we can also use it on people who are sick in the emergency department.”
Queens General already has stress-testing equipment that involves patients using a treadmill to measure the heart’s response to physical activity.
But the new equipment uses a stationary bike to measure the response of your lungs as well. Internal medicine specialist Dr. Jeff Ratushny, who is based in Bridgewater, has a special interest in pulmonary stress testing, Doucet said.
“So this is an upgrade on our stress-testing equipment to add the pulmonary component to it. And that was really because Dr. Rathushny has a special interest in that. For our health professionasl that we have here, we want to give them the equipment that they need and that they want to give them the ability to come here and stay.”
The echocardiogram cost $275,000, while the exercise testing equipment cost $93,000. Those were just two of the significant contributions to health care in Queens County made by the foundation in the past year.
It has donated more than $1 million for equipment, training and other things to help attract more health professionals to the area and to make health care more accessible locally.
“Our mandate does not confine us to just the hospital. But everything that we look at it’s in the lens of how can we make this a better place to live for people, how can we make it the best place for care, how can we put the best equipment in that we can retain professionals that are coming to work here.”
The foundation is also contributing $725,000 toward the establishment of a new MRI machine at South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater.
And Doucet said they’re investing up to $3.5 million in a new CT scanner at Queens General. He said they’re working with Nova Scotia Health to recruit the technicians to staff that equipment properly.
The foundation relies on donations and investments to fund its work. Doucet said its volunteer board of trustees is concerned about financing projects big and small.
Whether that’s a new floor-cleaning machine, doing things to help staff morale or sprucing up the outside of the hospital with art and gardens, he said it’s all part of making Queens General a better place to work and visit.
“There’s very few hospitals that you’ll see flowers that are blooming at the front door. So we want to make the hospital not so clinical and not so sterile. We want it to be an inviting place so that it reduces the anxiety people have as they come in.”
Doucet said the foundation has helped recruit six physicians to the area in the past two years. And thanks to things like their online presence, they’re also attracting other professionals like nurses to the area.
But he said there’s more to do. That’s why they continue to recruit with the goal of having the Queens General ER return to being open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“The way it used to be when I was practising and the way it is now, things have definitely changed and we have to adapt to it. So having the foundation makes it at least easier for us to do that.”
For more information on the Queens General Hospital Foundation, visit their website at qghfoundation.ca, or their medical recruitment site at doctors-wanted.ca.
Sourced from QCCR FM. Written by Rick Conrad for QCCR FM News.
QGHF 2024 Annual Appeal Letters
Each year Queens General Hospital Foundation sends out Annual Appeal Letters. Here is 2024’s QGHF Annual Appear Letter:
Download and View previous years Appeals in PDF form below:
QGHF 2023 Annual Appeal Letters
Each year Queens General Hospital Foundation sends out Annual Appeal Letters. Here is 2023’s QGHF Annual Appear Letter:
Download and View previous years Appeals in PDF form below:
Queens General Hospital Foundation Annual Appeal Letters
Each year Queens General Hospital Foundation sends out Annual Appeal Letters. Here is 2022’s QGHF Annual Appear Letter:
Download and View previous years Appeals in PDF form below:
Dr. MacKinnon returns to Nova Scotia to take up family practice in Liverpool
Dr. Jamie MacKinnon never thought much about returning to Nova Scotia after leaving to pursue his medical studies in the Caribbean, the United States and finally, in Ontario. But after hearing repeatedly about the exceptional medical team in Queens County, and after making a visit to see for himself, Dr. MacKinnon is proud to join our community as our newest physician.
Dr. Alison Freeman returns home to Nova Scotia and joins the team at Queens General Hospital
Dr. Alison Freeman is thrilled to be putting down roots in her home province of Nova Scotia and joining the team at Queens General Hospital.
Dr. Freeman was born in Halifax and raised in Oakfield. Always knowing she wanted to pursue medicine, she enrolled at Dalhousie University in Halifax to study Neuroscience.
From there, she enrolled at the University of Wollongong in Australia to pursue medicine. Interested in the practice of rural and remote medicine, Dr. Freeman was drawn to the Wollongong program, which allowed her to specialize in resource-limited medical settings. As part of the program, she spent one year in Narrandera, New South Wales, learning the ropes of resource limited medicine on the ground.
After finishing her medical studies, she joined the University of British Columbia’s Indigenous Family Medicine Residency Program for two years. From there, she moved to the Yukon, where she lived for 8 years practicing medicine in Whitehorse and Haines Junction. While there, she served on the Yukon Medical Council and was the President of the Yukon Medical Association.
When the COVID-19 pandemic started, Dr. Freeman and her husband decided to take the leap and move back to Nova Scotia, first settling in Antigonish. Dr. Freeman had been hearing about Queens General Hospital and the Queens General Hospital Foundation for many years and was excited about the opportunity to join the team.
“I had been hearing about the Queens General Hospital and the Foundation’s work to support the hospital and the community,” she said. “No matter where I was working across the country, Queens General Hospital was spoken about so highly among my colleagues.”
Dr. Freeman will start at Queens General Hospital in October working in inpatient care. In January, she will start her family medical clinic attached to the hospital.
Dr. Freeman and her husband Justin are excited to raise their daughter Molly and newborn son James and their three dogs in Liverpool. They love spending time outdoors, especially canoeing and kayaking in the summertime.
“I have been very fortunate to travel and live across the world, to see and do a lot, but nothing compares to being back in Nova Scotia,” she said. “I have always considered Nova Scotia to be home and I cannot wait for my family to experience all I was able to when I grew up here.”
Dr. Freeman will build her practice from the Need a Family Practice Registry. The Registry is a provincial list for people without a family doctor or nurse practitioner. Once you have registered, you will be added to the list. When a primary care provider in your area is accepting new patients, Nova Scotia Health contacts you by phone and/or email.
Call 811 to speak to someone if you prefer to register by phone rather than online or you are new to Nova Scotia and do not have a Nova Scotia Health Card .Staff are available Monday through Friday, between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. If you are registering for a family member, such as your children or spouse, please have their information ready to complete the registration on their behalf.
If you prefer to register online, please visit https://needafamilypractice.nshealth.ca/
Janice Reynolds, Four Decades of Serving the Health Community
For 44 years, Janice Reynolds has honed her business acumen operating a pharmacy in the Queens community with her husband, acting on boards for theatres and music festivals, and by being hands on when the task calls for it. As full as Janice’s schedule may already sound, people with her desire to help always find extra time. For the past three years, having handled four decades of accounting, Janice now lends her skills to the Queens General Hospital Foundation Board of Trustees.
The Legacy of Tim and Diane Ledvina
Through unwavering support and care, the community of Liverpool left an indelible mark on Tim and Diane Ledvina.
Tim Ledvina was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Ohio State University and began work in the auto industry as an engineer with Morse Chain, part of Borg Warner. He retired from his position as Chief Engineer for Morse Chain as an expert in his field after 30 years, with over 30 patents to his credit.
Diane Ledvina was born in Salamanca, New York, where she attended Cornell University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science. She spent time in Alaska as a lab technician, and later returned to Ithaca, New York, where she had a 30-year career with Dairy One, was president of the local Farm Bureau chapter, and treasurer of the Holstein Club. It was in New York where Tim and Diane met.
“Tim and Diane… they really were drawn to one another” Tom, his twin brother recalls, “These are people who really overcame some difficulties.” Tim suffered from cataracts early in his life, at a time when surgery for cataracts was only just being developed. Despite the surgery, Tim had severe vision issues throughout his life. Early in Diane’s life, she suffered a farming accident where she lost most of her right arm. “You had two people, who both faced great physical challenges, and I think that drew them together.” adds Tom.
During their careers, Tim and Diane would often travel for vacation. On one such vacation, they travelled to Nova Scotia, and driving down the coast, they came upon Liverpool, and they fell in love with it. The rest is history. In 2005, they bought a plot of land near the ocean, and began construction on their home. They integrated into the community immediately. Both were parishioners at St. Gregory’s Church. They loved animals, raising miniature donkeys and other animals in New York, and were always the place for a rescue dog. In Liverpool, they worked with the SPCA. Tim was part of the Kiwanis, and Diane volunteered for Queens General Hospital, the Queens Food Bank and Thomas Raddall Library, up until her illness.
It was discovered, during a routine health check as part of the immigration process of moving to Canada, that Diane had cancer. “The support that Tim and Diane felt in the following years was beyond what they could have expected; that’s pretty extraordinary in my mind.” says Tom, “It shows how they really became part of the community.” After a long battle, Diane passed in March of 2012, and written condolences poured in from the community and anywhere Diane had spent time, from roommates at university, to neighbours down the road.
“I was really worried when I went up there after Diane died,” Tom explains. “I worried Tim would be alone, but I quickly found that was not the case. He had so many friends, and the community was so supporting,” Tom remembers. “I knew he was going to do fine.”
Tim continued to take part in the community until he became ill in December of 2014. Once again, support poured in from the Liverpool community and the local area. He was happy to be in Liverpool. Tim passed the following March, but not before making the decision to give back to the community that had given him and Diane so much.
“It was important to Tim to make a contribution. He could see how important the hospital was to the local community. So that’s what motivated the gift,” says Tom. Tim was so grateful for the level of care Diane received at Queens General Hospital, “He wanted to preserve that access to good, quality, local healthcare.”
Tim and Diane donated $4.8 million to Queens General Hospital Foundation, the largest single private donation the foundation has ever received. Knowing that the foundation would put the money to the best use, Tim left no instructions on how the donation was to be used, only that it be used to benefit those in the Liverpool community to its fullest extent. The building that will display their name to honour their generous donation has a history of healthcare, as the former location of a family practice. The property is also large enough, should further development be required. This facility will be used to continue and enhance the level of care and support that Tim and Diane appreciated during their time in Liverpool.
Local Doctor Saves Sentimental Items with New Device
The Queens General Hospital is fortunate to have dedicated medical professionals who are committed to the health of those in Queens County. One such professional is Dr. Ryan Burrill. Dr. Burrill, who grew up in Shelburne, always enjoyed helping people. Little did he know that his educational journey would take him around the world before returning back to his home province.
