The Foundation of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance has reached and surpassed its fundraising goal of $6.9 million, raising a total of $7,062,761.

The money will go toward purchasing much needed diagnostic imaging equipment for Chatham-Kent.

“We did it! Thanks to the generous support of our community, we truly accomplished something wonderful for Chatham-Kent,” said Mary Lou Crowley, Executive Director, Foundation of CKHA. “Our momentum over the last few weeks has been absolutely tremendous. Between the wonderful anonymous donor who came through last week with $200,000, to the Final Push bicycle ride which raised an amazing $100,626 on its own, the energy and enthusiasm this community has displayed is more than we could ever hope for.”

The fundraising campaign was launched in 2014 to finance the purchase of 17 new pieces pf equipment. To date, 15 pieces have already been purchased and installed.

Governments do not fund new capital equipment expenditures for hospitals, which is why hospitals are regularly holding major capital enhancement fundraisers. CKHS officials say more than 5,000 people contributed to this 'Future in Focus' campaign.

“State-of-the-art diagnostic imaging equipment enables CKHA’s health care professionals to diagnose patients here locally. Care closer to home provided at our two sites is a good thing,” said Lori Marshall, President and CEO, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance. “The people of Chatham-Kent deserve this equipment, and I am so proud at how they came together to raise the funds to bring it to their community.”

“Throughout the campaign, our leaders, including our committed campaign co-chairs Dave Depencier, Greg Hetherington and Andy Fantuz, along with their dedicated volunteer committee and the Foundation Board and staff, believed that they could reach their lofty goal,” said Gaye Thompson, Chair, Board of Directors, Foundation of Chatham-Kent Health Alliance. “Whatever the size of any single donation may have been, they all added up in the end, and we couldn’t have exceeded our mark without the help of every one of them.”

To date, the foundation has raised more than $43 million for local healthcare.