It’s not something you think can happen to you, but suddenly, we both required surgery within the same month – in the middle of a global pandemic.
No matter where we lived in the province, we knew that if something were to happen to us and we needed more advanced health care, we would want to go to Royal University Hospital (RUH) in Saskatoon.
We feel blessed and grateful that donors like you who have supported RUH were there for us in 2020 when we needed surgical care, especially since it was in the middle of a pandemic – Thank you. We would like to share our story to show how important it is to continue to support health care, and we hope you will join us by making your gift today.
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We are Marylin and Keith McIntyre, both raised in small-town Saskatchewan (Colonsay and Macklin areas respectively), and married in 1964. Marylin is a proud alumnus of the 1961 University Hospital’s Nursing Program (renamed Royal University Hospital in 1990). The hospital was only six years old at the time and very well-known all over Canada for top-notch physicians, medical teams and the latest technology. Marylin knows first-hand how important it is to keep it that way; to attract and retain the best surgeons and to offer the best possible care right here at home.
We are writing to you today to ask you to join us by making a donation in supporting surgical care at RUH. Your donation will help fund new state-of-the-art equipment and other enhancements for one of Saskatchewan’s busiest hospitals.
You can help create a surgical centre of excellence at RUH, now and in the future.
You never know when you are going to need advanced health care and surgery. Keith was diagnosed earlier in life with a defective bicuspid aortic valve (an irregularity in the heart where there are only two leaflets of flaps on a valve, instead of the normal three). At the time of diagnosis, Keith would have had to travel to Edmonton for surgery. During the summer of 2020, Keith’s cardiologist Dr. Rashpal Basran determined that his open-heart surgery could wait no longer. Fortunately due to new technology, equipment and recruitment – his surgery was here at home.
A new cardiac surgeon, Dr. Abbas Khani-Hanjani, was recently recruited to RUH from London, Ontario. Dr. Khani-Hanjani, and his medical team took the time to answer all of our questions which helped put our minds at ease. We felt secure knowing that Keith was going to be taken care of during a very stressful time. This life-saving surgery would not have been available to Keith to have in Saskatoon if it weren’t for investment in the most advanced equipment and technology. Something we can’t take for granted and YOUR support is needed to ensure that the topnotch care we received at RUH will continue to advance and improve.
In the middle of it all, while Keith was still recovering from open-heart surgery, Marylin fell and broke her hip. She was taken to RUH by ambulance. The break required surgery which was performed two days later. This was in the middle of the pandemic when hospitals and medical teams were under extreme pressure. We feel so fortunate and grateful for the professional and skilled surgeons and support teams we met at RUH during these stressful summer months.
Surgical backlog and wait times are at an all-time high due to the pandemic and it is putting tremendous pressure on the medical teams. We know that there is an urgent need for advanced and modern technology and equipment for our surgical teams who will care for those who need it the most and have waited the longest for it.
With YOUR help we can get them the right tools to best tackle the surgical backlog post-pandemic.
We are happy to say that we trust RUH health care and, with the tremendous support of family, we are both back to living our fullest lives. Supporting health care has always been important to us, and I’m sure it is for you as well. We can together help RUH build a world-class surgical facility with the latest equipment to provide advanced care for all of the wonderful people in Saskatchewan, right here at home.
Donate online or print and send in a Donation Form.
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To find out more about how to support surgical priorities at Royal University Hospital, contact Lisa Sands, Chief Development Officer, at 306.655.6477 or lisa.sands@ruhf.org.
