QEII PATIENT ESSENTIALS FUND
BECAUSE ANY OF US COULD NEED HELP WHEN WE LEAST EXPECT IT
$52,240
to alleviate patients’ financial stressors
A life-changing diagnosis or sudden healthcare experience can knock anyone off their feet. Sometimes patients are more concerned about the financial burden of being sick than they are about their illness. The QEII Patient Essentials Fund – a first-of-its-kind pilot program developed by the QEII Foundation – is helping ease the financial burden by providing gift cards to patients for urgent, essential needs during their care journey.
Our patients come from all over Atlantic Canada and can have long, stressful hospital stays. It’s easy to forget that along with
the physical and mental burden of being in hospital, patients can have financial burden too. Being able to do something about that felt great, a little light at the end of their tunnel.– Shelby Kennedy
Photo: Shelby Kennedy is the health services manager at the Multi-Organ Transplant Program at the QEII. Her department received gift cards to put directly in the hands of patients to help them cover the cost of life’s essentials like fuel, groceries, and personal care items.