by Marie Birkbeck
Do you or someone you know have a medical condition, or recent injury or surgery that requires the use of medical aids for a temporary or long-term basis but you don’t know where to start looking, or perhaps you are on a limited income and just cannot afford the added expense of costly equipment? Before you panic, check out the new Medical Equipment Loan Closet.
For many years, both the Golden Years Lodge and Royal Canadian Legion Branch #266 have had a limited supply of medical and mobility aids in their facilities available for loan to residents in the area. The service was not widely publicized and many residents either purchased the equipment they needed, or relied on borrowing from the Red Cross Loan Closet in the neighboring cities. Recently, the two organizations joined forces, amalgamated their supplies and have been working to create a Medical Equipment Loan Closet to provide a free service to residents of the area.
Like the Red Cross Loan Closets in the cities, all equipment has been catalogued, labelled & numbered, cleaned, inspected and serviced to assure it is in safe operating condition before being distributed. But unlike those centers, you do not require a Drs. requisition to borrow the equipment and there are no restrictions on how long you can keep the appliance, but it does need to be signed out.
Being a volunteer-run organization, the closet welcomes donations of good useable medical aids. Thanks to the generosity of families in the area, the closet is the beneficiary of a significant quantity of high quality equipment. The inventory ranges from simple supplies like crutches and canes, to walkers, wheelchairs, bath chairs and transfer aids, to adjustable hospital style beds and motorized scooters.
Contact RCL Service Officer Doug Hubert at 250-566-4046 to inquire about availability of products, or to donate your equipment to the centre.
