Canadian Sikhs do their bit for new hospital

William Osler Health Center and the Canadian Sikh community raised $170,000 from a 3-day 'Akhand Paath' they organised last week at the Brampton Civic Hosptial.

Quite a fund raiser from an Akhand Paath! It shows devotion, dedication and commitment of the local Sikh community.

Their commitment in the case of this hospital is so much more as the emergency ward at the Brampton Civic Hospital hospital is being named after Guru Nanak: 'The Guru Nanak Emergency Services' is what it will be called.

"Over the course of the weekend, over 15,000 people visited Brampton Civic Hospital, where the Akhand Paath was held, to offer their good wishes and blessings. There was an amazing feeling of caring and appreciation in the building during the entire three days," says Anne Randell, William Osler Health Center Foundation president and CEO.

"We are pleased to report that the total raised at this event was over $170,000. We are grateful for this outpouring of support and generosity along with the community spirit and enthusiasm for our new hospital," Randell added.

Within two and a half years since the fund-raising campaign was launched, the Canadian Sikh Campaign has already raised close to $4 million for this new hospital that, when it opens in October, will have 608 beds, facilities for 160,000 ambulatory visits, 90,000 emergency department visits, 18 operating rooms, cardio-respiratory and electro-diagnostic services and a whole lot more.

"Our fund raising campaign, to run over five years, is targeted to raise $10-million," Ramandeep Grewal, a Toronto-based lawyer, and chair of the Canadian Sikh Sub-Committee of the William Osler Health Care Center, told this reporter.

William Osler is managing the construction of this new hospital and they manage four other hospitals.

Ontario government is spending $52 million for the construction of this brand new hospital.

"It's the first hospital in Canada (in many, many years) that starts from scratch," Grewal said.

"Hospitals can be re-developed but from scratch, developing it on a green field is rare," Grewal added.

Photograph: William Osler Health Center