MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 23, 2010

Donation to Foundation is Pay Forward for Jack Keyes

Brockville and district—Gananoque resident Jack Keyes recently donated funds to the Brockville and District Hospital Foundation (BDHF) for a set of four Limbal Relaxing Incision (LRI) knives, an act he sees as not payback but pay forward.

“Brockville General Hospital is a vital service,” says Keyes, “and it serves my community. That’s why I like to give to the Foundation, and I do it with their Wish List for hospital equipment. I’m in a position to give, but I want to know what my donation is used for. And I want to know it’s local. That’s a good investment in the future. I want BGH to continue to be here for the citizens of Gananoque and the surrounding area.”

Keyes knows all about good investments, having spent the majority of his professional career with RBC-Dominion Securities, helping others make good decisions about their money. Keyes had already become a donor to the Foundation, after seeing the Wish List in their quarterly newsletter. Turns out, Jack’s supporting BGH was good investment for him with a long-term dividend.

“I was golfing in Florida last winter,” Keyes says, “and I realized I couldn’t see the golf ball land after my drive. I ended up at Brockville General with an excellent doctor, Sam Stevens, who performed cataract surgery this past summer. It was wonderful care and a total success.”

The gift of four LRI knives will be used in future eye surgery, a gift that Dr. Sam Stevens says is deeply appreciated.

“The knives are top quality instruments,” he explains. “They are made from diamonds so they remain perfectly sharp and can make very precise incisions. They’ll last for many years. Thousands of people will benefit from this generous donation.”

To Jack Keyes, the gift of equipment to BGH is not payback but pay forward—based on a simple truth he knows well.

“Everyone needs the hospital,” says Keyes. “As you get older, you need it more and more.”

For more information on the BGH equipment Wish List or to subscribe to the Foundation newsletter, contact the BDHF at 613-345-4478.


The future looks bright for eye surgery at BGH: (l – r) Dr. Sam Stevens, Jack Keyes, Anne Rodger (BGH Director of Surgical Services and Maternal/Child), and Foundation Executive Director Joan McLaughlin.

For more information, please contact:

Joan McLaughlin Executive Director Brockville and District Hospital Foundation 613-345-4478 mcljo@bgh-on.ca

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