CANMORE – Executive director of Canmore and Area Health Care Foundation Soulafa Al-Abbasi has been included on the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy’s 40 under 40 list.
Al-Abbasi was honoured at the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy’s annual international conference in Washington at the end of October.
“We’re very lucky to have the calibre of health care we have in Canmore,” Al-Abbasi said in a press release.
“Many of the doctors and other health care practitioners come for the lifestyle, and the entire community benefits. Plus, the hospital is only 10 or 15 minutes drive from anywhere in town.”
The Canmore Area Health Care Foundation is a charitable foundation dedicated to raising funds for local health services based on a mission statement to “provide charitable financial resources for the continuing improvement of the facilities and services of the Canmore General Hospital through the encouragement of philanthropy and the guardianship of these financial resources.”
As an organization, the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy is committed to development professionals dedicated to encouraging health care organization charities.
With 4,300 members from more than 2,200 health care facilities around the world, the inclusion of Canmore's Al-Abassi on the top 40 under 40 list puts this community on the map with resspect to the association's work in North America.
“This award is well-deserved and proves Canmore offers the best care possible, especially for seniors," said Origin at Spring Creek general manager Cindy Drury in a press release.
"People need to consider not just the health services available inside a seniors residence but also where the residence is located and the level of care provided by the town. We have many doctors and medical services here in town specifically to support seniors and some doctors even still make house calls to our residents.”
The funds raised by the Canmore and Area Health Care Foundation help cover the cost of new beds and technical medical equipment, the improvement of facilities and a variety of health care programs. Currently, the foundation has raised $1 million toward a $1.5 million project to renovate the hospital's long-term care unit.
“We just spent $92,000, mainly on operating room equipment,” added Al-Abbasi. “We buy everything from sofa beds to ultrasound machines and baby monitors. Whatever they need.”
