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Gala raised nearly $24K; overall $150K campaign for 10 beds ‘just shy’ of $100K
Published Nov 25, 2025 • Last updated 1 day ago • 2 minute read
Susan Switzer, Lady Dunn Health Centre Foundation chairperson, Julila Hemphill, Austin Hemphill, general manager, Island Gold District, Alamos Gold Inc., and Lady Dunn Health Centre CEO Kadean Ogilvie, enjoy Glam for Good Gala in Wawa earlier this month. Ella LeadbetterArticle content
Lady Dunn Health Centre is closer to boosting bed numbers.
Its second annual Glam for Good Gala, held in Wawa Nov. 8, yielded more than fine food, friendly banter and even some daring dancing. The event whipped up a little over $23,000 toward its $24,000 goal.
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“So that’s pretty close,” said Susan Switzer, Lady Dunn Health Centre Foundation chairperson.
The foundation’s principal goal this time is $150,000 for 10 new hospital beds for the Wawa facility, which also serves the surrounding communities of White River, Hawk Junction, Missanabie and Dubreuilville, with a catchment area of just over 4,300.
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The campaign is “just shy” of $100,000, Switzer said. Officials hope to top that up over the holidays. Giving Tuesday begins Dec. 2, and the annual Wish Campaign kicks off Dec. 5. Donors can put a star, or have a star placed, on the Wish Tree, located in the hospital lobby.
“Every act of generosity counts towards giving back,” Switzer told The Sault Star in a phone interview.
“It’s not a religious thing or a holiday thing, it’s just hoping for the best health care we can get and supporting that.”
Since incorporating in 2009, the foundation has raised more than $1 million to maintain, upgrade and purchase, capital equipment.
While operational funding mostly comes from the Ontario government, it is expected that hospitals and local communities be responsible for necessary capital expenses.
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The foundation, which now has a full-time co-ordinator, saw its first campaign raise $5,000 toward a medication cart.
Funds are raised via a variety of events and forms of donations, including raffles, golf tournaments, galas, wine tasting events, trivia nights and high teas. Giving Tuesday also assists, as do monthly donations and in-memory gifts.
Practicality ranks up there with generosity in explaining the foundation’s success.
“People don’t like travelling to Sault Ste. Marie (for health care) … it’s two and a half hours,” Switzer said with a laugh. “It’s really considered a regional hospital.”
Lady Dunn Health Centre includes 10 acute care, two respite and 16 long-term care beds and operates a 24-hour emergency department, staffed by a registered nurse and an on-call physician. It also provides a surgical program, diagnostic and therapeutic services, telehealth and a nurse practitioner program.
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The facility is also a major employer in this relatively isolated community, some 230 kilometres north of Sault Ste. Marie.
“If we lose the hospital, there’s direct jobs that are lost but also a lot of peripheral jobs,” Switzer said. “People who supply things for the hospital, right down to snow plowing.”
Expanding industrial concerns in the region have been a boon.
Alamos Gold, housed some 80 kilometres northeast of Wawa, near Dubreuilville, has been a chief supporter.
“We’re working hand-in-hand with them to see how we can sustain the services that we have and also expand them,” Switzer said.
On X: @JeffreyOugler
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