By Curtis Galbraith

Community

Grande Prairie Regional Hospital part of national wish list effort to help kids admitted to hospital

Mar 23, 2023 | 6:00 AM

Some hospitals in the Peace have joined a new online initiative called the Starlight Canada Hospital Wish List.

This sees donors support eight different programs meant to help children admitted to hospital.

The Grande Prairie Regional Hospital is among those taking part. One of its wishes has been filled, but there are seven others still in need of donations.

It is an idea from the Starlight Children’s Foundation Canada.

CEO Brian Bringolf says the group works with 120 hospitals across Canada and wanted to streamline handling requests.

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“They create a wish list on this platform and then we go out to individuals and companies across Canada and let them know that the platform is there and if they’d like to fund something specifically in their community, they can go on (the website), they can see what their local hospital wants.”

The Grande Prairie Regional Hospital’s wish list still includes kits for newly admitted kids and kits for toddlers and teens.

The High Prairie Health Complex, Northwest Health Centre in High Level, and the hospital in Fort St. John are also part of this endeavour.

Bringolf says the kits that this pays can help kids play, which can speed up healing.

“Mental health is everything. We all go through our trials and tribulations and our difficulties. Waking up in the morning in a happy, positive space and being that way for your spouse, for your co-workers, your kids is hard as an adult. Imagine, if you will, you’re a child and you have some sort of an illness.”

He adds studies have shown distracted kids need less pain medication when undergoing a procedure.

“Having distraction, having your child’s mental health bumped up a little bit, for lack of a better expression, is key in the healing process and any physician, any nurse, any child life specialist is going to tell you that.”

The foundation arranged for the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital to get a Nintendo Switch that arrived last fall before this wish list idea came to fruition.

Donation information is available on the Starlight Canada website. Follow these links for the Grande Prairie, High Prairie, High Level and Fort St. John wish lists.