Cheerleader with royal assent. Lt.-Gov. Russ Mirasty will use his position to rally others to the efforts of the Victoria Hospital Foundation. (submitted photo/ VHF) 

By Glenn Hicks

royal cheerleader

Victoria Hospital Foundation gets powerful patron

Sep 17, 2019 | 2:09 PM

The Victoria Hospital Foundation (VHF) enlisted some serious muscle ahead of what is likely to be the organization’s biggest ever fundraising push in the coming years. In fact, technically their acquisition has royal assent.

They’ve secured the help of the Lt.-Gov. of Saskatchewan His Honour Russ Mirasty as their first ever honorary patron.

“Like with any other patronage it’s about supporting organizations that are contributing in a positive way to their own communities,” Mirasty told paNOW. “I thought the Hospital Foundation really fit that, and certainly its reach is much broader than Prince Albert so I thought it would be a good one to support.”

The lieutenant-governor grants honorary patronage to recognize special contributions in society.

Mirasty, a former commanding officer and then assistant commissioner with the RCMP, was born and raised in La Ronge and said the continued expansion of health services for the North was very important.

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“Access to specialists is really limited because of the isolation, so having a central location like Prince Albert – which it has always been for the North – it’s a good thing,” he said.

Mirasty said he would use his position to draw attention to all the work that’s being done by the foundation along with attending events to speak to that and offer continued support.

For the Victoria Hospital Foundation, having the lieutenant-governor accept its request to take on the honorary position will be a boost as they get set to embark on potentially millions of dollars in fundraising that will be needed to equip and furnish a new or renovated hospital. The province has already promised to pay for the capital costs in full.

“The lieutenant-governor is very close to us in terms of his strategic position. In other words, he lives in La Ronge,” Lyle Karasiuk the chair of the VHF told paNOW. “We have been working with many of our northern communities in many of our causes as we advance health care for our Victoria Hospital.

”This idea of an honorary patron has been on the back burner of the foundation’s mind for many years and we were happy when the opportunity presented itself to reach out to his honour,” Karasiuk said. “He graciously accepted to be our first honorary patron of our hospital foundation.”

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow