The first special purpose "spORT" mobility bed has arrived at Eagle Ridge Hospital.
Staff and donors celebrated the arrival with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday.
The new patient bed will be housed in the hospital's Monitored Care Unit (MCU) to serve the community's sickest patients, according to a press release.
Many larger Fraser Health hospitals already have the state-of-the-art beds and technology, and the Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation estimates more than 75 patients this year will benefit from the purchase of the bed.
The foundation hopes to eventually replace all 10 beds in the MCU with sport beds, which are designed to prevent pneumonia, breathing complications and bed sores during hospital stays.
"We are pleased to celebrate this fundraising achievement with donors and staff of Eagle Ridge Hospital," said Charlene Giovannetti-King, the foundation's executive director.
"With their help we raised the $40,000 needed to purchase this bed. We want to thank our donors who generously gave to the 2012 Have a Heart direct mail campaign. Our patients and community deserve access to state-of-the-art health-care and this special-purpose spORT mobility bed for MCU is one step toward achieving that goal."
