$100k donation to nursing education
Ladner resident Al Holinger has made another significant contribution to the Delta Hospital Foundation.
On Nov. 13 (Tuesday), Holinger presented a cheque for $100,000 towards clinical nursing education at a ceremony in the hospital's Courtyard Cafe.
His desire to support nursing education sprung from the excellent care his late friend Joan Rumsey received while she lived in the hospital’s adjacent residential care facility, Mountain View Manor, and the care he receives living there today, the foundation stated in a media release.
“We are grateful for the generosity and are inspired by Al’s commitment to education and the health of this community”, said Dan Schatt, Clinical Nurse Educator for Delta Hospital’s Emergency Department.
“Health care has drastically changed in the last 20 years, and Al’s gift will ensure that our nursing staff will have access to the best and most innovative education tools”.
In 2008, Holinger donated $300,000 to help pay for the Forest for our Future, a park on Delta Hospital grounds that was opened in 2011.
“Al genuinely has a philanthropic spirit”, said Veronica Carroll, the foundation's executive director. “We are continually humbled by Al’s commitment to the hospital. This gift will benefit the entire community by ensuring the best in patient care through education.”
Holinger has led a colourful life that has included a stint as a motorbike rider with a traveling carnival, which involved jumping the bike through flaming hoops. Later, he moved to Montreal and became a police officer as part of the organization's first bomb disposal team, and then a guard at the BC Penitentiary.
And instead of speaking about his contribution at the opening of the Forest for our Future, he chose to play a harmonica for the crowd.
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