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BMP Foundation Announces $1
Million Gift
Monday, December 3, 2007, Cowansville, Quebec:
The Brome-Missisquoi-Perkins Hospital Foundation today announced the receipt of the
largest gift in its history, a $1,000,000 contribution from the Zeller Family Foundation of
Montreal.
Pictured at right are Mr. Paul A. Meunier, president of the Board of Directors
of the BMP Foundation, Mrs. Louise Roy Yelle, vice-president of the CSSS La Pommeraie's Board of
Directors, Ms. Diane Daigle, director-general of the CSSS La Pommeraie, Mr. Wilson McLean of
the Zeller Family Foundation and Mrs. Betty McLean.
The gift has been made thanks to the kindness of Mr and Mrs Wilson McLean of
Knowlton. As a Director of the Zeller Family Foundation, Mr McLean was authorized to donate
$1,000,000 on behalf of the Foundation to the charity/charities of his own choice. Being a
long-time supporter of the BMP Hospital, he graciously directed the gift to the BMP Foundation.
The gift has been earmarked for the improvement of the working and care
environment within the Hospital, a specific and clearly-defined project developed through
consultation with Hospital employees and ultimately selected by the McLeans themselves.
The project will address three specific areas. Between $250,000 and $300,000 will
provide structural improvements to nursing stations and facilities within the Medicine, Surgery and
Intensive Care units of the Hospital. An additional $100,000 will be invested in new equipment to
further support and enhance these improvements. The balance will provide an addition to the
Hospital’s Medical wing, providing a new patient/family lounge, a dedicated area for
employees and staff, and much-needed meeting/training facilities for Hospital staff.
“Not only is the magnitude of this gift so exciting, but the ability to
listen to our frontline people and then invest this exceptional sum of money where they have
suggested is doubly so,” explains CSSS LP Director General Diane Daigle. “All of us who
work in this environment see potential improvements that are overlooked because of the perennial
lack of funding. This extraordinary gift has provided us with the opportunity to listen to our care
givers’ thoughts on how we could improve the working and care environment, and then implement
some of those suggestions.
“We know that our strength begins with our staff. By investing in our people
and the environment in which they function, we are investing directly in the care that we offer to
the people of our region.”
The McLeans feel equally strongly. Mr McLean has served in the past as a Director
of the BMP Foundation, while his wife Betty, a nurse and long time volunteer herself, has served
for over 40 years within the Quebec hospital environment. “By improving the environment in
which our professionals are functioning, we can improve the care they are able to give to the
Hospital’s patients. That is why this project excited us so much. In our opinion, it is a
win-win situation, for both patients and care-givers.”
The investment represents the first portion of $4,000,000 that the BMP Foundation
has committed to investing directly within the BMP Hospital in the coming five years for major
facilities improvements, including a modernization of the BMP Emergency unit and the construction
of a Specialized External Clinic. The Foundation has also committed an additional $2,000,000 for
providing additional long-term beds and service facilities within the region, to further assist the
CSSS La Pommeraie better meet the health-care needs of the region.
“The BMP Foundation thanks Mr and Mrs McLean and the Zeller Family
Foundation for not only supporting this cause but in setting such a leadership example,”
concluded BMP Foundation Chair Paul Meunier, in announcing the gift. “The BMP has always
benefited from two very important characteristics; a dedicated and exceptional professional team,
and tremendous community support. This gift is yet another wonderful example of the one strength
feeding the other.
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