$1M donation for Janeway from local operating engineers

Operating Engineers Local 904 has committed a $1-million donation for the Janeway Children's Hospital Foundation in St. John's the foundation's largest-ever donation received to date.

The money will be used to buy a central monitoring system at the hospital, the first of its kind in the province, according to the Janeway Children's Hospital Foundation.

The Janeway isone of the fewcare centres in Canada not already using one of these systems, Eastern Health says.

"This is an unprecedented gift for the foundation and it will have a tremendous impact on the care provided at the Janeway," said Martin Sullivan, chair of the foundation's board of directors, in a press release Thursday.

"We are overwhelmed by this generosity."

System monitors at-risk pregnancies

Thesystem is used primarily to offer monitoring for at-risk pregnancies, and will allow doctors and nurses to see real-time what is happening with a patient to makea multi-disciplinary approach to health care easier, Sullivan said.

That means it won't just be the nurse assigned to a pregnant patient who can monitor their health and the health of the fetus; nurses and doctors will be able to monitor for updates in real time, rather than having to seek out updates.

It will also be able to store information for up to 21 years, meaning case information can be easily accessed; Eastern Health said the system will make it easier to learn from interesting cases and conduct medical reviews.

Operating Engineers Local 904 has about 2,200 members in Newfoundland and Labrador and has been a longtime supporter of the Janeway, the foundation said in its release.

"Many of us have been touched by the Janeway in one way or another," said the local's businessmanager, Terrence Hickey.

"On behalf of our members, we have chosen to support the Janeway and invest in the future of our children's health care."

Read morefrom CBC Newfoundland and Labrador