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Paper Excellence’s Skookumchuck Pulp Mill donates $25K to health care

May 13, 2019 – Paper Excellence Canada has contributed a $25,000 donation to the East Kootenay Foundation for Health.

The donation supports the MALDI TOF program, which is a lifesaving piece of equipment used to rapidly identify organisms in blood cultures. This rapid turnaround time (10 minutes – 24 hours) has an overall 95 per cent accuracy in identifying bacteria, enabling faster, correct treatment for patients. Samples can now be tested right at East Kootenay Regional Hospital in Cranbrook, where as in the past, samples were being sent to Vancouver and Kelowna and results were taking up to 7-14 days.

“East Kootenay Foundation for Health provides care for many of our Skookumchuck Pulp Mill employees, retirees and their families,” says Brian Baarda, Paper Excellence Canada CEO. “We believe in supporting our communities and are excited to be part of the foundation reaching this monumental fundraising goal.”

“As a close-knit community, having this piece of equipment in our local facility alleviates the need for travel or extended periods of time in receiving diagnosis and subsequently treatment,” says Gavin Baxter, general manager, Skookumchuck Pulp Mill. “When facing medical care, to receive state-of-the-art care in your own community brings peace of mind to all involved.”