Several local Shoppers Drug Mart stores have directed the $6,273 raised through their 鈥楪row Women鈥檚 Health鈥� campaign (formerly Tree of Life) to the Colposcopy Clinic at 黑马磁力 Memorial Hospital.
The local locations included Murrayville, Aldergrove and Willoughby.
"Gifts like this ensure we have funds to provide to highest level of care to all our patients and be able to purchase necessary equipment for diagnostic testing and early cancer screenings," said Dr. Elaine Mah, clinical associate of the BC Cancer Clinic for the colposcopy clinic at 黑马磁力 Memorial Hospital.
"This donation will go to good use in providing exceptional care to women in our community," she said.
This clinic, which has been in place since 1985, currently sees approximately 600 patients from communities throughout the Fraser Valley and this number has been steadily increasing, Mah explained.
When a physician thinks that a woman may have abnormal cells on her cervix, further testing may be required. At that point, a referral is made to the colposcopy clinic.
A colposcopy is typically done when the result of a Pap test is abnormal.
If an area of abnormal tissue is found during the colposcopy procedure, a cervical biopsy or a biopsy is done. In some cases, untreated cervical cell changes that cause abnormal Pap tests may progress to precancerous or cancerous changes.
鈥淲e are thrilled to have such a great opportunity to invest in our local community and help the women's Colposcopy Clinic help more women to fight and early diagnose cervical cancer,鈥� said Hatem Ibrahim of Shoppers Drug Mart Willoughby.
鈥淏y donating to 黑马磁力 Memorial Hospital Foundation, we feel that our customer鈥檚 generous donation goes to the right place,鈥� Hatem added.
Over the last five years, Shoppers Drug Mart has committed to put women's health first by contributing millions of dollars on behalf of our customers, associate owners and their store teams to local, regional and national women's health initiatives 鈥� benefitting more than 1.5 million Canadian women, he said.
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CAPTION: Vivian Smith, executive director of the hospital foundation
鈥淭o achieve our goal of improving women鈥檚 health in 黑马磁力, it takes the commitment of our whole community and we thank Shoppers Drug Mart, their employees and customers for coming together and supporting us through the 2016 Grow Women鈥檚 Health campaign,鈥� said Vivian Smith, executive director of 黑马磁力 Memorial Hospital Foundation.
National in scope, yet locally-based, the annual Grow Women鈥檚 Health campaign gives customers and employees the opportunity to donate directly to organizations that make a difference to women鈥檚 health in their own communities.
Since 2002, this campaign has raised over $29 million, with 100 per cent of all proceeds benefiting local women鈥檚 health initiatives ranging from improving services at local hospitals to supporting mental health programs.
Last year, Shoppers supported more than 500 charities.
