Interventionalist Cardiologist Dr Santosh David with Friends of Letterkenny General members Donna Henderson, Paddy Rooney and Peter Cutliffe supporting the North West Charity 10k.
Preparations for the North West Charity 10k are gathering momentum this weekend with runners and walkers being reminded by the organizing committee that an office is being opened at Letterkenny Community Centre from Monday evening for registrations.
The charity event sponsored by DonegalDaily.com and Brian McCormick Sports & Leisure is taking place on Sunday, May 5th in Letterkenny.
Entrants will be able to collect their numbers, t-shirts and those running will be able to pick up their chip timers. The portacabin office at the Community Centre will be open from 6 to 8 p.m. each evening from Monday to Friday and also on Saturday afternoon from 2 – 6 p.m.
As many people as possible are encouraged to come early in the week so as to avoid congestion on the day of the event. It is also important that those who have registered on-line come and collect their numbers, t-shirts and chip timers before Sunday. The first 2,500 entrants will get the new t-shirts.
A designated person can block register for a club, charity or a group of friends meaning not everyone has to be physically present to register. This will especially helpful for participants outside the general Letterkenny area.
This year the three charities who will benefit from the North West 10k are the Friends of Letterkenny General Hospital, the Special Needs Accessible Playpark group SNAP and Donegal Mountain Rescue.
The entry fee is 15 euro for runners and 10 euro for walkers. For information visit www.northwest10k.com
FOCUS ON FRIENDS OF THE HOSPITAL
The Friends of Letterkenny General Hospital will be one of the main beneficiaries of the North West Charity 10k with the organization currently concentrating all their energies on providing a suite of rooms on the campus to install vital equipment for cardiac investigations and treatment.
When the new Cardiac Catherisation Laboratory is up and running it will mean that a huge number of people across Donegal will be able to have heart problems diagnosed and treated at Letterkenny General rather than having to go to either Dublin or Galway. Around half a million euro is required to complete the project and the Friends are very optimistic that with the public’s support that the figure will be reached by the end of the year.
The campaign to provide the Catherisation Laboratory is already well underway and now with the backing of the massive financial pulling power of the North West 10k on Sunday, May 5th the Friends would hope to bring this absolutely vital medical facility a step closer.
The new cardiac unit would allow diagnostic angiographies to be carried out by Interventionalist Cardiologist Dr Santosh David who is already based at the hospital. It will allow for the early detection of heart disease by checking blood supply and scanning for blockages.
In addition the cardiologist will be able to insert stents and pacemakers to correct heart problems while also allowing for a procedure called angioplasty which helps to clear plaque from the coronary arteries.
It will be a ‘win win’ situation for both the patient and the HSE in terms of minimizing stress and cutting costs.
When the Friends of Letterkenny General Hospital was setup in 1991 to purchase a CT Scanner not many would have envisaged that the organization in the next 21 years would raise close to six million euro for a range of specialist medical equipment and infrastructural improvements that have been hugely beneficial to the people of Donegal.
The latest Friends project has already been raised €750,000 to buy the high tech equipment for a Cardiac Cathederisation Laboratory which is to be located in the hospital. Now with the help of the North West 10k committee the Friends are aiming to raise some of the estimated half a million euro finance for the provision of the actual laboratory on the hospital campus.
Currently Dr David has the use of a mobile suite every Thursday at the hospital for carrying out some of these investigations but there is no facility to actually provide treatment after a diagnosis.
The bulk of the surgical procedures are undertaken at St. James’s Hospital in Dublin while around 10% of patients are sent University Hospital Galway. So it will be a huge boost to the people of Donegal when the Cathederisation Lab is up and running. At a time when the patient is already trying to cope with the stress of facing cardiac surgery the fact that that procedure can be done at Letterkenny General will be a huge relief.
The burden for families will also be lessened by being able to visit their loved ones more regularly and it also save on the costs of travel and accommodation in Dublin or Galway. It will ease the pressure on the HSE ambulance transport budget.
Senior management is currently finalizing a site on the hospital campus for the facility. Letterkenny General equipped with a Cathederisation Laboratory will be a massive development for county cardiac services at a time when the public is hearing so much about health cutbacks.
Over the past 23 years the Friends of Letterkenny General Hospital has raised over €5.5 million for a range of state of the art medical devices for investigative and treatment purposes as well as money for service development and patient care.
The aim this year is to raise €365,000 for the Cat Lab project.
The Friends objective is to raise €21,000 every 21 days through a number of initiatives including the North West 10k. Among the other significant achievements of the ‘Friends’ over the years is the MRI and Dexa Scanners and the 750,000 euro for the new Acute Mental Health Unit which opened in September 2011.
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