Media Release
15 years of great fundraising and great golf
May 6th 2011
**AS APPEARING IN The Battlefords News-Optimist, Friday, May 6, 2011**
15 years of great fundraising and great golf
by Trent Cey
Sports Reporter
Great golfing, great food, great company and a great cause - that is how Claudette McGuire, Battlefords Union Hospital Foundation executive director, describes the annual Wayne Pruden Memorial Golf Tournament.
The kickoff for the 15th annual memorial tournament took place at the North Battleford Golf and Country Club Wednesday morning. The major sponsors were introduced and the excitement for the most popular and successful fundraising golf tournament in the Battlefords was once again brought to the forefront.
Innovation Credit Union, which has been the major sponsor since the tournament's inaugural year, donated $6,000 to the BUHF in support of the tournament.
The credit union is proud to be a sponsor of the tournament, which is such a positive contributor to the improvement of health care in the Battlefords, said Tim Sletten, executive VP of strategic solutions for Innovation Credit Union.
In the 15 years of sponsorship, the credit union has donated $90,000 to the Wayne Pruden Memorial Golf Tournament.
The banquet sponsor will once again be M & M Meat Shops and Ed Lee was on hand for the kickoff event Wednesday. This year there will be a change to the banquet, which was traditionally held at the golf course. Starting at 5:30 p.m. the banquet will take place at the Western Development Museum.
The final sponsor on hand at the kickoff event was Dana Johnson, director of golf for the North Battleford Golf and Country Club. The golf tournament, which is a highlight of the golf season in North Battleford, is always a highly anticipated event and is sure to once again sell out with 204 golfers.
Early bird registration deadline is May 20, which gives golfers a chance at an Innovation Credit Union sponsored prize. The registration fee is $125 for golf, supper, a souvenir, a chance at prizes and a great opportunity to support the Battlefords Union Hospital Foundation. The Texas Scramble Tournament, which fills up with 34 teams of six, begins with a shotgun start June 6 at 11a.m.
This year's fundraising efforts will be put towards a portable bladder scanner for post-operative unit. Post-operative patients can suffer complications, which can be anticipated and prevented with new medical equipment that is available. The new equipment is specifically aimed at assessing the patient and alleviating the possibility of increased invasive procedures, says McGuire. There is a budget to raise $20,000 for the new piece of equipment.
In the 14-year tradition of the tournament, more than $270,000 has been raised, including more than $28,000 at last year's tournament.
The tournament has helped with the purchase of equipment such as a mult-media projector, a blood pressure machine, an ottoscope, a laparoscopy unit for the operating room, portable telemetry units, vital signs monitors, laparoscopic instruments, an adjustable stretcher for ultrasounds, slave monitors for telemetry, a CADD legacy PCA pump, mammography equipment, a triple channel IV plum, renal dialysis equipment and bedside monitors.
This tournament has traditionally been enthusiastic and successful and the BUHF plans to continue that rich tradition, according to Cheryl Gantefoer, BUHF board chairperson.
