Cappagh supporters celebrate their milestone anniversary

THE Cappagh Hospital Foundation (CHF) celebrated its 30th Anniversary earlier this month with an event in the Lady Martin Auditorium on the hospital grounds.

The evening was in honour of supporters of the Foundation for the extensive work they’ve carried out in support of the Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital since 1988.

The event was one of many exciting celebrations planned during 2018 to mark the anniversary.

CHF have been working with local community groups to help with the celebrations, including the Finglas Men’s Shed.

Last month men from the group built and delivered the first of four benches for patients and staff for the hospital’s front garden.

Angela Lee Deputy CEO of the Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital welcomed them as they delivered the bench and thanked them for their work.

“The Men’s Shed are deeply proud of this – in fact it is quite emotional as this is their first project,” she said. “Some are past patients. 

“On behalf of everyone at Cappagh Hospital Foundation and Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital, our deepest thanks to the Men’s Shed for building this beautiful bench that will be proudly used by staff and patients of Cappagh National Orthopaedic hospital.”

Highlight of the recent celebration event was an awards ceremony presented by longstanding patron of the foundation Mary O’Rourke, to honour a variety of people and organisations that have helped make a difference over the last 30 years.

Some of the awards presented on the night included Corporate Champions, Patron Awards and Community Awards, as well as awards to honour individuals and their involvement with the foundation.

Speaking at the celebratory event, Orla Gilroy, CEO of Cappagh Hospital Foundation said the foundation couldn’t operate without the support from patrons and donors.

“On behalf of myself and the board, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to these individuals and organisations for the continued support the foundation has received,” she added.

“I would also like to extend a special thanks to Mary O’Rourke, who has been a patron and supporter of the Cappagh Hospital Foundation for many years.

“We are delighted Mary could travel to present these awards to so many of our wonderful corporate and community supporters.”

The foundation has raised over €11 million, which has made a significant difference to staff and patients at Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital.

These donations have enabled Cappagh Hospital Foundation to support and implement many innovative and critical developments in the hospital. Some notable developments over the years include the establishment of a Bone Tumour Registry (1989), a new out patients department (1996) and the building of a 10 bed Isolation Unit (2009).

Donations have also supported nurses in their advanced education and paid for Stryker spinal surgery navigation equipment and software (2017).

“The funds raised from over the years have had a hugely positive impact on Cappagh Hospital’s patients and contributed to a wide range of different projects,” Gilroy said.

“I would like to once again extend my thanks to our donors for their ongoing support.”