Proceeds from the 2019 Festival of Trees will be used to purchase new medical scopes for Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. (rdnewsNOW/Rene Rondeau)

By Troy Gillard

26th year

Festival of Trees raising funds for hi-tech medical scopes

Nov 18, 2019 | 3:02 PM

Nearly 13,000 patients each year stand to benefit from money raised through the 2019 Festival of Trees.

The 26^th annual event begins Thursday evening with the preview dinner and is open to the public from Friday through Sunday at Westerner Park.

Proceeds will be used to support the purchase of medical scopes and two sophisticated scope washers for use in the Endoscopy and Outpatients departments at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre.

Officials say 35 scopes are nearing their end of life or are damaged and no longer repairable.

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More than 9,400 procedures involving scopes are conducted at Red Deer Regional each year.

“Our Endoscopy department is probably the third for fourth busiest in the province,” says. Dr. Dave Ryan, a gastroenterologist in Red Deer.

Ryan says his field of practice is incredibly dependent on technology.

“What we are doing, for the most part, is using these scopes to diagnose illness in the (gastrointestinal) tract. The quality of these scopes is extremely important in our ability to do our job,” he explains.

“There have been major advances in our field in the last 15 years in terms of the technology we’re using. In particular in improving the quality of the images we obtain as a lot of what we’re doing is very visual.”

Ryan says the scopes that will be purchased with Festival of Trees proceeds are essential to the service they provide to central Albertans.

“We are really in one of the few areas of medicine where we can prevent cancer before it ever starts,” he notes.

“One of the best parts of my job is I go to work every day knowing that 10 to 15 people will have cancer prevented simply because of what we are able to offer not only through screening, but through this very technology.”

Not only is it important to have the technology available, Ryan explains, but so too is the ability to clean and turn it around quickly.

“This zone has grown by about 15 per cent since 2005 and we have a relatively limited capacity to see people. Patients know this; they wait a long time to get in to see us.

“With this kind of technology and our ability to improve processing we’re really hoping that we’re able to improve the ability to reach more people and provide more timely care.

Since moving to the region in 2013, Ryan says he’s been blown away by the support shown by local residents for the hospital.

“I know for a fact that we couldn’t provide the level of care that we do here – which is excellent – without the support from the public,” he says. “It’s gifts like these that enable us to maintain our healthcare system at an acceptable level.”

“We have a very, very generous community,” says Manon Therriault, CEO for the Red Deer Regional Health Foundation. “Festival of Trees is in its twenty-sixth year and to be able to see our community still be so passionate about this place and be so committed, it’s very humbling.”

Last year, Festival of Trees raised $1.1 million for the purchase of Pyxis automated medication dispensing systems. Over 25 years the festival has raised more than $16 million for the hospital.

For more information on this week’s events or being involved with the Festival of Trees, visit reddeerfestivaloftrees.ca or call 403-343-4773.

(With file from interviews by Rene Rondeau)