TUNE IN TO SUPPORT RVH

Larche Communications Inc. (LCI), parent company of KICX 106 (CICX-FM) and 104.1 The DOCK (CICZ-FM), will be hosting the Radio for Radiology radiothon at Georgian Mall, May 26 and 27. This two-day event aims to raise awareness and funds for the Radio for Radiology campaign that is presently underway. Both radio stations will broadcast live from the Grand Court area at Georgian Mall from 5:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. The two-day broadcast will also feature interviews with RVH physicians, patients and volunteers.

LCI announced in December 2008 that both radio stations would work to fulfill a $500,000 pledge to the I Believe capital campaign and the radiothon is just one of several events designed to meet that goal. Other initiatives including a cook book, golf tournaments, a Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings concert and an upcoming Colin James concert at Casino Rama are a few of the ways the two stations are meeting their pledge. Once the pledge is met, the funds will go toward the purchase of a new Interventional Radiology suite in RVH’s expanding Imaging Department. Major expansions and renovations to the Imaging Department are part of the Phase 1 Expansion Project, which also includes the Simcoe Muskoka Regional Cancer Centre

“Our Radio for Radiology Campaign will help to fund a new Interventional Radiology Unit, allowing people in Orillia, Midland, Barrie, and all of Simcoe County and Muskoka to get treatment close to home and we are determined to have KICX 106 listeners and 104.1 The DOCK listeners from across the region get engaged and support their Simcoe Muskoka Regional Cancer Centre,” says LCI president Paul Larche. “The reality is that most of us, or a loved one, will have to deal with cancer in our lives. It’s a very stressful time. I lost my mother to cancer when she was only 4. It’s critical that residents in our region have the best, most convenient and timely care available. With help from our many listeners and clients, funding a new IR Unit that will support the Simcoe Muskoka Regional Cancer Centre, will do precisely that.”

An Interventional Radiology (IR) unit permits doctors to perform procedures by making tiny incisions, often the size of the tip of a pen, through which small catheters, wires, and other instruments are passed under x-ray guidance to the area of interest within the body. This allows the use of local anesthesia and light sedation rather than the general anesthesia that is required for conventional surgery. In most cases, patients are able to go home the same day, or the day after the procedure. Not only are IR procedures typically less expensive than surgery, patients return to normal activities much faster than and the risks, pain and recovery are significantly reduced. Royal Victoria Hospital currently has the only Interventional Radiology unit in Simcoe County.

About RVH: Royal Victoria Hospital is a 299-bed community hospital in Barrie, Ontario, located 80 kilometres north of Toronto. As the largest
hospital in the region of Simcoe Muskoka, it provides specialty services to almost half a million Central Ontario residents. RVH’s team of over 280 physicians, 2,200 employees and 1,100 volunteers provide exceptional health care, specializing in emergency services, cancer care, surgical services, intensive care, mental health, interventional radiology and rehabilitation. RVH has embarked on a Phase 1 Expansion Project which will double the size of the existing hospital, while adding capacity for 165 new inpatient beds and the Simcoe Muskoka Regional Cancer Centre. For more information, visit our website at www.rvh.on.ca.