Everyone wins thanks to Foundation lottery

Acquiring new equipment is the equivalent of winning the lottery for many staff teams. Thanks to Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation’s Winning Wednesdays 50/50 Staff Lottery, employees have a chance to “hit the jackpot” while supporting new equipment purchases.

The Winning Wednesdays 50/50 Staff Lottery is open to all Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) employees and volunteers. Fifty percent of all funds received for each biweekly draw will be awarded (up to $22,500 per ticket), while the other half will support The Foundation to help enrich patient care at HHS.

One recent acquisition thanks to lottery proceeds is a colposcope, a key piece of equipment used in the Colposcopy Program.

“We’re very grateful to The Foundation for providing us with the new colposcope.”

“Colposcopy provides cervical cancer screening to women who have an abnormal pap smear or those who may have risk factors for cervical cancer,” explains Dr. Dustin Costescu, the medical lead for the program. “The colposcope is essentially a pair of binoculars that allows us to see cells that are abnormal. It enables us to be more efficient in making the right diagnosis.”

HHS is home to the second largest Colposcopy Program in Ontario, with approximately 4,000 patient visits per year. The need for a new colposcope was vital to keeping this program on the leading edge of cervical cancer care.

“We’re very grateful to The Foundation for providing us with the new colposcope,” says Dr. Costescu. “Almost every woman who visits the clinic will receive a cervical cancer screening with the colposcope, so it’s really important that we have reliable equipment.”

Other equipment purchases include GlideScope Laryngoscopes, which are mobile video intubation systems used in urgent situations when a patient loses consciousness or has difficulty breathing while on a rehabilitation unit. Using this system, rapid response teams are able to open up a patient’s airways. Thanks to lottery proceeds, several GlideScope Laryngoscopes are available across HHS.

HHS employees and volunteers can learn more or register for the Winning Wednesdays 50/50 Staff Lottery at hamiltonhealth.ca/lottery.