Westview Hospital Foundation receives $600,000 donation

STONY PLAIN -- The WestView Hospital Foundation has announced a major donation towards its CT scanner campaign.

The donation was recently made by members of the Zender Family Foundation and brings the new equipment $600,000 closer to becoming a reality. The campaign to purchase a CT scanner for the WestView Hospital comes as more than 200 local patients a month are sent to a different facility, in a different town or city, due to the absence of the equipment locally. Chad Zender, Director with the Zender Family Foundation, says it was an easy decision to support the cause. 

"When we started looking at it, and the impact that it could make for the community, it was kind of a no-brainer," said Zender. "The CT scanner is something that is going to be really important for the community for a long time, so we felt this was something we wanted to get behind."

Chad notes that the Zender Family Foundation's donation was mainly driven by his parents, Ken and Judy Zender, and that the donation is also made on behalf of his brother, Shayne, who needed a CT scanner multiple times in his battle with cancer.

Each year, WestView serves over 49,000 people, with 55 per cent of patients arriving through the Emergency Department. In 2024-25, the hospital responded to 27,034 emergencies, all without the benefit of an on-site CT scanner. To bring support the purchase of the new equipment, the WestView Hospital Foundation is currently undertaking a $5.1 million campaign. Zender talks about the importance of supporting local healthcare.

"In our province we get a lot of support from the government, but there's also a large part of it that requires the local community to step up and raise funds or put in the time to support the hospital and the WestView Foundation, and all the healthcare needs around the community," said Zender in conversation with 88.1 The One. 

WestView's CT project planning also includes expansion of the emergency response area to accommodate enhanced Diagnostic Imaging, relocation of pharmaceutical services, and improved patient flow. The province has committed to providing operational funding to support the launch of CT scanning services, which includes additional staffing required to commence the first CT scan and scale service hours.