Arms around the South Shore rejoiced as the popular Ambulatory Care Department at South Shore Regional Hospital was crowned winner of the Charm Diamond Centre’s Women’s Giving Circle.

Attendees raised $10,000 during the virtual fundraiser, annually organized by the Health Services Foundation of the South Shore.

Four hospital projects (three from South Shore Regional Hospital and one from Fishermen’s Memorial Hospital) made their five-minute video pitch to the attendees on Zoom. Those who took part voted to fund a vein visualizer for Ambulatory Care, which does as it suggests; scans the skin to locate hard-to-find veins for IVs to be inserted.

Ambulatory Care Manager Michelle Tipert says the AccuVein machine will scan over the skin, mapping out a patient’s vein flow.

“We start IVs every day in Ambulatory Care. Not all veins are easy to find, which means that first attempts aren’t always successful. This leads to multiple pokes with a needle or sometimes we can’t move forward with the treatment that day. This machine will reduce patient pain and procedure time while creating some ease for our nurses.”

The other hospital departments that pitched can submit their funding requests to the Health Services Foundation’s Board of Directors for further consideration.

Since 2014, the Charm Diamond Centre’s Women’s Giving Circle has raised over $80,000 to invest back into Lunenburg County hospitals.