Background

The Friends of Letterkenny General Hospitals was founded in October 1992. This voluntary organisation is made up of a central committee and local sub-committees from all over the County and has two important objectives:

  • Fund-raising for  equipment & facilities for the hospitals
  • Voluntary Work

FUNDRAISING FOR EQUIPMENT & FACILITIES FOR THE HOSPITALS SINCE 1992

  • The first project that the “Friends” took on board was the CAT Scan Appeal which  raised over €625,000 in less than two years
  • The “Friends” provided €100,000 for a Lithotripter and scopes to allow Consultants/Surgeons to gain access to kidney stones & break them down without the need for open surgery.
  • €25,000 provided for Patients Comfort
  • €10,000 provided for the purchase of a bus for the patients in St. Conals/Letterkenny Hospitals.
  • Purchase of two  Oncology Buses to take terminally ill patients to Dublin (costing €127,000 and €186,000)
  • €31,000 for sensory Garden Medical Rehabiliation Unit
  • Mini-Bus for psychiatric patients (€46,000)
  • GE Logic P5 Pro Ultrasound MAchine has been purchased for the benefit of Oncology patients ay Letterkenny General Hospital (€47,190)
  • Larderal Suction Unit (Radiology Dept)
  • Datex Ohmeda Light Monitor (Radiology Dept)

Equipment purchased recently by the ‘Friends’ include:

  • Ultrasound machine (Theatre), which facilitates the insertion of intravenous lines
  • Intra Aortic Baloon Pump ( Cardiology dept), which  is used to address any bleeding post-operation
  • Dexa Scanner (Radiology), which scans the skeletal system to check bone density with emphasis on diagnosing osteoporosis
  • Equipment to faciliate Intervention Radiology

 

VOLUNTARY WORK

If you have a few hours to spare during the weeek, the second objective of the ‘Friends’ is to provide a voluntary service to patients.

This would include visiting & helping patients with letter-writing, errands and in any other way you can & this provides an essential service for  those patients who may have no one to visit them and keep them in touch with the outside world.

If interested please contact Asst. Director of Nursing at 074-9125888.