We’re less than 24 hours away from the 16th annual 800 CHAB Radiothon at the Town and Country Mall. 

Starting at 6 a.m. on Thursday, 800 CHAB will be live for 36 hours raising funds for the Moose Jaw Health Foundation, wrapping up at 6 p.m. on Friday. 

This year’s goal is to raise $138,000 to purchase new, state-of-the-art equipment for the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Hospital’s Pediatric and Women’s Health units. More specifically, the funds will go towards purchasing a new wireless fetal heart monitor, neonatal incubator, phototherapy blanket for the nursery, pediatric glidescope and pediatric beds.  

Local pediatrician Dr. Chris Pitan outlined the importance of this equipment. 

“I look at this equipment as pieces of equipment we have here and all of them will come in very useful on a daily basis. So, this is not equipment that we think we would use once or twice a year. These are things we would use routinely,” he said. 

According to the Moose Jaw Health Foundation, over 500 babies are born at the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Hospital annually and hundreds of children receive care at the hospital.  

Without this equipment, patients would have to travel to Regina or Saskatoon for pediatric care or the delivery of their baby. 

Pitan said children’s medical care at the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Hospital is second to none. 

“Look, anywhere you go in the world you won't get much better and that's being truthful. Sometimes you look and say it's a small city, but sometimes the small cities actually do better than the bigger centres,” he said. 

You can find out more about the 16th annual 800 CHAB Family First Radiothon and how to donate by going to the Moose Jaw Health Foundation’s website.