To mark the 50th anniversary of the Centre de santé et de services sociaux de Sept-Îles (CSSS) and the 2012 fundraising campaign of Fondation régionale Hôpital Sept-Îles, Port of Sept-Îles has made a donation of $250,000, the largest corporate donation ever received by the Foundation.
The objective of this exceptional donation is to help CSSS in its constant efforts to improve services to the regional community and to offer tangible support by providing the necessary funds to consolidate and automate its laboratory. This sizeable community investment by the Port stems from its new policy on donations and contributions to the community. From now on, all of the Port’s major infrastructure projects will include an allowance to help fund community initiatives that generate significant impacts and spinoffs for residents of Sept-Îles. In fact, it was the $220 million multi-user dock project that enabled the Port to make this major initial donation. “We are very pleased to make this first donation to the community in honor of CSSS’s 50th anniversary, and we are delighted with the projected community benefits of this investment, which will increase CSSS’ technical capabilities and processing speed of tests for all hospital patients,” said Port President and CEO Pierre D. Gagnon and Chairman Carol Soucy.
According to Martin Beaumont, Executive Director of CSSS, “The Board of Port of Sept-Îles just raised the bar! This is a remarkable example of community involvement that will affect thousands of Côte-Nord patients, as our laboratory carries out nearly 800,000 analyses a year. This donation will undoubtedly provide an excellent return on investment by improving the quality of, and access to care.” The donation will be used to purchase specialized analytical equipment for the laboratory, which will enable CSSS to develop new tests, including breast and ovarian cancer screening, and will increase laboratory productivity, thus reducing wait times.