Lyle and Heather Perkins were recently recognized as “Community Heroes” by the Kemptville District Hospital (KDH) Foundation. They were delighted to receive this unexpected recognition of their personal contributions over the years and their role in supporting the Hospital - as had Lyle’s father, Howard - through Perkins Hardware Building Centre in North Gower.*

Lyle said he remembers when KDH was being built in 1959. It was natural that his father would be curious about it - after all, his business focused on supplying materials for house and barn construction in North Gower. Lyle, then a young lad, would accompany him to the hospital building site on Concession Road, Kemptville where they would both marvel at the progress. KDH would eventually open its doors on June 29, 1960, when thousands of excited and curious visitors were greeted by the nurses and guided through the new facility on that glorious day.

Heather remarked that “the hospital has come a long way since those early days”.

As with the hospital, Perkins Lumber has also evolved with the times.

In the store’s office are numerous large aerial photographs showing Perkins Lumber near the intersection of Fourth Line Road and Roger Stevens Drive. They record the many changes which have occurred in the area since the business began in 1936 during the Great Depression.

Lyle grew the lumber company from when he assumed leadership in the early eighties. In 2011, along with his son Mark, he steered the company in a new direction and a new name. He was also involved in several community associations, including fifty years with the North Gower Volunteer Fire Department. He proudly shared that in 1948 his father was the first appointed Fire Chief of the Township Fire Department and that his son Mark is a volunteer fire fighter.

Heather is also very engaged with the community.

Presently she is helping to gather food and Christmas presents for those who are struggling locally. She said, “the need to fill sixty Angel tags is a real indicator of the times”.

The Perkins family connections to the hospital are deeply rooted to the urgent call which went out to the community more than sixty years ago to help build a hospital in Kemptville. In Howard Perkins’ footsteps they continue to support the hospital.

Heather said, “we need the hospital ourselves - and our family - and it’s where we want to go for care”.

KDHF is presently involved in a $2.2 million Crossroads Capital Campaign to bring a CT Scanner to KDH.

*North Gower was part of Rideau Township and then became part of Ottawa during the City’s Amalgamation in 2001.

Earlier this year, Herb Cloutier of J.A.M. Productions and Bob Windsor of Blackwind Studios (and Eddy and the Stingrays) collaborated on a fundraising effort for the Kemptville District Hospital Foundation, bringing together a group of 13 local songwriters to record original songs in Bob Windsor’s Blackwind Studio.

Bob added his musical magic to the numbers and a full-length album/CD of exclusively local, exclusively original music was completed.

All participants have 100% donated all their efforts to realize this wonderful, artistic vision with the understanding that 100% of the sales would go directly the KDHF efforts to raise funds to bring a CT scanner to our local hospital.

Pay what you can - if you set your price above the suggested $10, your additional dollars will also go to support KDHF.

Buy the Digital Album

In July 2023, KDH received three new anesthesia ventilators funded by the KDH Foundation.

“Anesthesia ventilators are essentially the machinery that keeps the patient alive during surgery,” explained Dr. Colin Sentongo, who served KDH as Chief of Anaesthesiology for six years before being appointed Chief of Staff in 2021.

 “They breathe for the patient; they administer the gases that keep the patient asleep,” he added. “So I am biased in the sense that I think it’s probably the most important equipment that you can have in an operating room. Everything else, in my opinion, is secondary.”

The new ventilators are an upgrade from KDH’s previous anesthesia machines, which Dr. Sentongo described as outdated. “Extra perks” of the new ventilators, according to Tanya Deans, RN, KDH’s Manager of Clinical Programs, are “less anesthetic gas usage. Anesthesia ventilators are essentially the machinery that keeps the patient alive during surgery with more precise delivery and new monitoring cables for patients needing paralytics [powerful muscle relaxants used to prevent muscle movement] during their procedures.” In addition, the new ventilators are familiar to many of the Anaesthesiologists who provide services at KDH as they also use them in The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) ORs.

The KDH Foundation provided $250,000 for the purchase of the new Ventilators; these funds were raised in the tremendously supportive communities that KDH serves. It is very important to KDH that our clinical teams have the equipment they need to provide the best possible care to our patients; as such, we would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the Foundation for providing the funding for the anaesthesia ventilators, and for their continued support in enhancing the quality of care provided at KDH.

Source: KDH Communications Officer, Jenny Read

Kemptville District Hospital (KDH) Foundation received a $10,750 donation from Kathy Holmes and family on Nov. 7, 2023. This generous gift is intended for the Foundation’s CT Scanner Crossroads Campaign and is a result of the Third Annual Greg Holmes Memorial Golf Tournament held September 15, 2023, at the Meadows Golf and Country Club, Ottawa.

Mrs. Holmes coordinated the Tournament along with organizer Bill O’Brien in memory of her late husband, Greg, who loved golf and other sports. He passed away in 2021 after a long illness. Their adult children, Brett, Gina and Dylan were also part of the well- attended golf event which had 142 participants.

A resident of Osgoode, Mrs. Holmes said that she read the Foundation’s spring campaign letter in which Dr. Sentongo, Chief of KDH Staff, explained the urgent need for a CT Scanner at the hospital. “For the patient, a CT Scan can provide early diagnosis which means early management of the health issue.”

This appeal explained that a CT Scanner will bring better care, faster patient care and care which is closer to home. It will also help recruit new physicians to the hospital who expect a CT Scanner as part of their diagnostic tool kit.

Mrs. Holmes set the Spring appeal letter aside and revisited it as the date of the Golf Tournament approached. She thought, “This made sense that we support the CT Scanner Campaign. This is what I want to do with the Tournament’s proceeds.”

Foundation Executive Director Joanne Mavis was delighted to receive the cheque which brings the Foundation closer to its $2.2 million goal. ”We urgently need the CT Scan technology at home, in Kemptville.”

Construction of the new space to house the CT Scanner at KDH is expected to begin in March 2024.

Attending the cheque presentation with Mrs. Holmes were her son Brett and baby grandson Tate, Joanne Mavis and Pat Poirier, Foundation Director.

The next Greg Holmes Memorial Golf Tournament will be September 20, 2024.

For more information visit The Crossroads Campaign page.

Further information:

The recent success of the CT Scanner Lottery brought the CT Scanner Crossroads Campaign closer to its goal of raising $2.2 million. The Lottery secured $200,000 for the Kemptville District Hospital (KDH) Foundation. Executive Director Joanne Mavis said, “it was an outstanding success and exceeded our expectations! Thank you to everyone who participated int this lottery.”

Top prize winner of the Camaro, Todd Durie, was delighted when he received the call from Mavis. “At first, she discussed some landscaping she wanted done at the Foundation Garden and I thought, ok, I guess I didn’t win. Then she said, while you are here, you can drive home the car you just won!”

The blue Camaro was presented to Durie, owner of Outer Creations Landscaping, Kemptville at Myers Chevrolet, Buick GMC, Kemptville on November 2, 2020, which just happened to also be Durie’s birthday. Everyone agreed it was a birthday he will not easily forget!

Durie said he and his family have supported the Foundation in various ways over the years, including organizing several very successful Golf Tournaments in memory of his late mother. He believes that the CT Scanner will be a great asset to the hospital and the community.

The CT Scanner is a vital diagnostic tool which will be a definite game changer for KDH in providing better patient care, faster care and care closer to home. Presently, a patient who requires an urgent CT Scan must be transported by ambulance in a 100 km round trip to an Ottawa hospital and wait usually many uncomfortable hours to have a scan. With a CT Scanner at KDH, it will mean a ride down the hall in a gurney or wheelchair.

Along with a pledge of $200,000 from the hospital, the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville and the Municipality of North Grenville have pledged $2 million to build the new space to accommodate the CT Scanner. Construction is expected to begin in Spring 2024.

For more information, visit the Crossroads Campaign page.

A case for a CT Scanner at KDH

A case for a CT Scanner at KDH

On September 30, National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, the winning ticket was drawn by Clifford Mavis for the “Healing Garden Shed”. Attending the draw was the Kemptville District Hospital Foundation’s Executive Director, Joanne Mavis and Craig McCormick, Project Organizer. Congratulations to the winner, Kelly Johnson, a resident of Manotick, who said she was “surprised and extremely happy to have won the shed”. She intends to donate the shed to Saunders Country Critter Zoo and Sanctuary in Oxford Station where she volunteers her time to care for the animals, a place, she said, “that brings her much happiness”.

McCormick thanked everyone who purchased tickets for this fundraising project. Ticket sales realized $4,400 which will be split to support the Wellness Access for Youth program (WAY) at Kemptville District Hospital and Minwaashin Lodge, an Indigenous Women’s Support Centre in Ottawa.

The Healing Garden Shed was constructed and generously donated by community-minded Brian and Christine Dillon, owners of Timely Touchups, “More Than Just Sheds”, located in Oxford Station.  Christine said, “Brian and I like to help the community any way we can, and when we can. It makes us happy. We are a small town and the Kemptville community helps each other. Every bit helps.”

The colourful, striking murals inside the Healing Garden Shed were painted by Aurora Jade, a Plains Cree visual artist and musician who lives in Ottawa.

In a heartwarming conversation with the winner, Johnson said she “just loves Saunders Country Critter Zoo and Sanctuary! It means an enormous amount to me. Lots of people don’t know about it. It is a place where animals find a safe place to live out their lives after they have had an accident, such as being hit by a car and they are deemed unable to be released again to the wild. At the Sanctuary, they receive nutritional and medical care. I couldn’t be happier to help out by giving them the Shed! I know they will make good use of it.”

McCormick, a retired OPP Officer, has been involved with many community projects in the past which support youth mental health, including WAY. WAY is supported by the Kemptville District Hospital Foundation. It offers one easy phone number for youth in North Grenville to call for help with their mental health: 1-866-741-1929.

The winning ticket for the Healing Garden Shed, shown here by Project Organizer Craig McCormick (right), was drawn by Clifford Mavis (left) on September 30, 2023.

Winner of the Healing Garden Shed, Kelly Johnson, will donate the shed to Saunders Country Critter and Zoo, an animal sanctuary in Oxford Station.

Support Youth Mental Health in North Grenville with your ticket to win an 8x8 “Healing Shed”. All proceeds from the ticket sales will be split to support the Wellness Access for Youth program (WAY) at Kemptville District Hospital and Minwaashin Lodge, an Indigenous Women’s Support Centre in Ottawa.

Tickets are $20 each and only 2000 tickets will be sold.

Get your ticket today at the following locations: Kemptville District Hospital Foundation office, MotorTrendz, Love Your Pet, Kemptville; Merrickville Food Market; Manoll’s Fish and Chips, Brockville; Greenhams General Store, North Augusta; All State Insurance, Brockville or Minwaashin Lodge, Ottawa. The lucky ticket will be drawn September 30, 2023.

The Healing Shed, made in Oxford Station, was donated by Brian and Christine Dillon, owners of Timely Touchups.  

The murals inside the Healing Shed were painted by Ottawa-based Indigenous artist, Aurora Jade.

Project organizer Craig McCormick has been involved with many projects in the past which support youth mental health, including WAY. WAY is supported by the Kemptville District Hospital Foundation. It offers one easy phone number for youth in North Grenville to call for help with their mental health: 1-866-741-1929.

The Healing Shed is presently located outside Motor Trendz on County Road 43, Kemptville. Drop by to see it and buy your “Healing Shed” ticket before September 30.