Skip to content

Wall of Honour gets 21st century upgrade

The Kootenay Lake Hospital Foundation has unveiled a new Wall of Honour to greet people arriving at the hospital.
6470westernstar04_13KLHspecialwall
The donor wall at Kootenay Lake Hospital went digital this month. Visitors to the facility can find information and stories from past hospital foundation donors using a touchscreen.

The Kootenay Lake Hospital Foundation has unveiled a new Wall of Honour to greet people arriving at the hospital.

The change has been planned for over a year to coincide with completion of the CT scanner campaign, but the need was identified well before then.

Administrator Bryna Idler explains: “The former wall had hundreds of small plaques that recognized  major donors and memorial gifts but there was little room to add more and the general public rarely took time to appreciate the message.”

Foundation directors looked at options to secure a second display wall at the hospital and to enhance the current design, but found they were limited by both space and cost. Fortunately, creativity emerges from adversity and they believe they found an alternative that will serve them for a long time. Instead of many small plaques, the new wall will include a large touchscreen display.

“The goal for a recognition wall  should be to offer thanks for past generosity and to encourage future contributions to the well being of our community so we hope our concept will prove successful,” offered director Brian May.

“It wasn’t an easy decision to change a display that has served us well for over a decade, so we made sure to distribute the many plaques back to donors and families.”

The extra space provided by use of a video display will allow the wall to focus on the contributions of major donors and service club partners, while making people aware of the full scope of  support they receive through the touchscreen display.

The interactive aspect will also encourage people to search for donors, to read their stories, and to consider the effort required for programs like the CT campaign.

Searches can be done based on names, the level of donation, a specific campaign, a memorial, or a financial plan. It can also display information about upcoming events or projects.

Being budget conscious, the foundation also took advantage of the generous design talents in the community.

Laura Galbraith coordinated concepts from a number of graphic artists, Patty Johnson gathered people to unscrew hundreds of plaques, and the maintenance staff at the hospital stepped forward to help prepare the wall.

The final concept was designed with generosity from Brad Steele of Frolix Designs and the display was created by perennial foundation supporter Speedpro Signs.

Other hospital foundations in the region have been following the development and are expected to try similar concepts soon.

May concluded, “ Growing pains are expected but we’re pleased with the result and we hope the public agrees. Everyone’s invited to drop by and see the change.”