Invermere Health Care Auxiliary Society brings A Warm Embrace Campaign close to completion.

Invermere Health Care Auxiliary Society brings A Warm Embrace Campaign close to completion.

September 19, 2024

The Invermere Health Care Auxiliary Society (IHCAS) has donated $200,000 more towards A Warm Embrace campaign to bring a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to East Kootenay Regional Hospital. This NICU will keep families with premature babies from long, stressful, financially difficult trips across the province for NICU care.

The IHCAS has been the top supporter of the A Warm Embrace campaign, donating a total of $400,000 towards the project in the last year. The IHCAS raises funds through the Invermere Thrift Store, located right on the main street of Invermere (7th Ave). The Thrift Store has been recycling, reusing, and re-purposing donated goods since 1977.

Their incredible group of 165 volunteers are always one of the strongest supporters of health care initiatives in the region. In total, they have donated over $1.3 million to EKFH to improve medical equipment and patient care in the Columbia Valley, Golden, and the East Kootenay.

Brenna Baker, Executive Director of EKFH commented, “I am so grateful for the amazing support that we receive from the IHCAS! They continually support all the projects that we are involved in with the East Kootenay Regional Hospital, Invermere and District Hospital, Golden and District Hospital, Columbia House and Durand Manor. I have spent time at their thrift store in Invermere and their team works so hard. Besides this incredible donation to the Warm Embrace Campaign this year, they have also given $165,000 to other equipment for Invermere and Golden. I hope they know how important they are to the improvements that we continue to see in health care for our region, and we are so incredibly thankful for the huge support of an East Kootenay NICU.”

In addition to EKFH projects, the Invermere Health Care Auxiliary Society also donates to community health organizations and provides support to David Thompson Secondary School graduates who are enrolled in health related post-secondary education. To find out more about the Auxiliary’s work and thrift shop, visit https://www.invermerethriftstore.com.