The inaugural Bringing Hearts Home “Cardiac Gala” is predicted to be one of the largest charitable gala events in the city’s history, with tickets officially being sold out Monday morning.
Five hundred and twenty-eight people are expected to attend the February 1st event at the Agri-food Hub and Trade Centre with over $400,000 already raised through sponsorship and other avenues of revenue, this is ahead of the first auction being put up for sale. The funding raised during this inaugural event will be put towards plans for cardiac care at the Chinook Regional Hospital and the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital.
Through the initiative, the goal is to elevate the standard of in-patient cardiac health care at the two facilities by adding new cardiac care facilities including a catheterization lab, two echocardiography labs, cardiac MRI and CT scanners, along with new ICU and cardiology critical care beds which are expected to alleviate some of the strain put on the existing system.
Physician Lead of Cardiac Sciences for Southern Alberta and Chair of the Cardiac Campaign Advisory Committee Dr. Sayeh Zielke says the support and enthusiasm the gala has received has been overwhelming. She explains the plans that are currently proposed for the funds being raised will not only help cardiac patients but all patients who visit the hospital as it will help free up space in other areas with cardiology beds on the floor being moved to the new cardiology space.
“Our current plan proposes, as part of developing a cath lab and advancing cardiac services, to update and upgrade our intensive care unit and bring it over into this new space. Our ICU is quite outdated. I believe it was built in the 1980s, and we do need an upgrade to our ICU. So this would be a beautiful, state-of-the-art ICU,” Zielke says.
She adds this will also increase the number of critical care beds that are accessible in the hospital.
According to statistics shared by Dr. Zielke in Southern Alberta, the death rate from cardiac health issues is 26.6 per cent higher than anywhere else in the province and is also the top killer in the southern part of the province. According to officials, the heart attack rate in the region is also 15.5 per cent higher than in any other part of the province. City of Lethbridge Mayor Blaine Hyggen says work on improving cardiac care in not just Lethbridge but Southern Alberta over a decade ago.
“I’m sure everybody has family, friends, or someone who has struggled with cardiac issues, I know in my family have seen that as well,” Hyggen says. “When I first got involved and met Dr. Zielke, [was] when she first arrived in Lethbridge as the first cardiologist here. We sat down and we thought we wanted to work on it at that time.”
Hyggen says it takes a community for the work that is done since to happen and the support for this work has been overwhelming. He adds he and Dr. Zeilke have spent a lot of time on the road travelling between Lethbridge and Edmonton for meetings.
“We’ll drive up for a half an hour meeting [then] back home and a few days later we might be back on the road again to answer some more questions. But it shows the dedication that the community has to, you know, recruit these specialty services and doctors for that matter.”
The next step to complete the project is to get the additional money needed to finish what has been started. Hyggen says not only has he been told it will happen but he believes it as well.
The gala is part of a fundraising campaign to raise $30 million, which is expected to happen at some point before February 2027.
