Sioux Lookout Home Hardware Building Community Golf Tournament raises $13,000 for SLMHC Foundation MRI Campaign

Tim Brody - Editor

Last Friday’s Sioux Lookout Home Hardware Building Community Golf Tournament has raised $13,000 for the Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre Foundation’s MRI Campaign.
Held at the Sioux Lookout Golf and Curling Club, 18 teams took part in the 18 hole tournament, which included a silent auction, hole prizes, and the sponsorship support of businesses Sioux Lookout Home Hardware does business with.
Sioux Lookout Home Hardware Partner / General Manager Eric Bortlis said in the past, Sioux Lookout Home Hardware had hosted a golf tournament, something he wanted to get going again in the community and support a good cause at the same time.
“Obviously it was a pile of work but the end result was $13,000 for a local initiative to support everyone in this town and this region. We received tremendous support. We plan on continuing the Sioux Lookout Home Hardware Building Community Golf Tournament.”
Bortlis said he received a lot of positive feedback from golfers, “We were obviously fortunate too with the weather… A lot of hard work meant that things went smoothly.”
Bortlis thanked all of the golfers, sponsors and volunteers who helped make the event a success.
He said he wanted to bring a lot of the businesses he deals with on board to support the tournament and the MRI campaign.
“It’s a huge task to try and raise $7 million in such a small community and it’s vital that the vendors who receive business from us outside of this community help to give back as well. They’re doing a lot of business with us and we lean on them for support and they came up huge for us,” he said.
Sioux Lookout Home Hardware Office Manager Monique Mousseau was a member of the tournament’s organizing committee. She is also a member of the Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre Foundation Board.
She said it was great to see so much support for the tournament and the MRI Campaign, “It’s awesome. It’s great. The community comes out and the teams are so responsive. When they give you constant feedback about how much they enjoyed the day, it makes it worthwhile that way. It’s very satisfying when they’ve enjoyed it. They’ve contributed to a good cause for us and ultimately without their support, it wouldn’t work out.”
Taking first place in the tournament was the First Mining Gold team of Shane Hayes, Peter Poddubny, Dave Joubert, and Jon Lambert.
Shane Hayes shared, “The golf was awesome today. We were up last month for the Sioux Lookout Bombers golf tournament and it was pretty rainy and cold, so it was fantastic to see the sun in Sioux Lookout, the warm weather and a lot of fantastic people.”
He said First Mining Gold was happy to support the tournament and the MRI Campaign.
Finishing second was the KES Carpentry team of Kendall Schulz, Cortez Favot, Hayden George, and Cam Stewart.
Kendall Schulz said, “It was beautiful weather. We had no complaints about the day. Missed a couple of putts, but other than that it was a really nice day. Group was awesome.”
He said of raising money for the MRI Campaign, “I think it’s a great cause and a great way to get everyone together and just enjoy a beautiful day like this.”
The tournament ended in a tie for third place between The Mitchagoomies team and Team Roy.
The tie was decided with a chip in contest, with members of both teams taking chip shots from the tee-off of Hole 5 to the pin on Hole 9.
The Mitchagoomies won the contest to cement their third place finish. Members of the team were Mitch Wills, Jamie Wisnoski, Luc Beaulne, and Dave Kulchyski.
Wills said of the tournament, “It’s always a good opportunity to get out and help the community.”
He added that the cause was fantastic. 
Finishing fourth was Team Roy, whose members were Derrick Greene, Charlie Roy, Matt Monkman and Ken Donnelly.
Tournament participant Rob Favot said, “It was a great day. Well organized… All the volunteers that came out today, it was really, really appreciated.”
He said of the need for an MRI, “It’s something that we need in Sioux Lookout and the north.”
Jason Murphy, another tournament participant, said of the day, “Great time. Great weather. Good group of people for a great cause. It was good.”
“To have an MRI in town to service our town and the north would be awesome… really good cause,” he added. 
Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre President and Chief Executive Officer Dean Osmond expressed his appreciation to Sioux Lookout Home Hardware, it’s sponsors, and all the golfers who came out. 
The Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre Foundation’s website shares, “Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre (SLMHC) announced earlier this year that it will receive base funding from Ontario Health North West to support the operation of a new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Scanner. SLMHC is responsible to all capital costs associated with construction to house the new MRI, as well as the scanner itself. As new building construction is required, the cost is estimated to be around $7 million. The SLMHC Foundation has launched a fundraising campaign to directly support the required costs associated with this project to make a locally available MRI a reality within our region.
“An MRI scan is a painless, radiation free medical imaging technique that uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to produce very detailed images of the organs and tissues inside of the body. An MRI scan is a noninvasive way for a medical professional to examine internal organs, tissues and skeletal system. It is performed by a certified radiology technologist and the resulting high-resolution images of the inside of the body help to diagnose a variety of conditions and injury, plan treatments and assess effectiveness of a previous treatment.
“An MRI does not use X-rays or other radiation and it’s the imaging test of choice when patients need frequent imaging for diagnosis or treatment monitoring, especially that of the brain. An MRI exam can take anywhere from thirty to fifty minutes, but could take up to two-hours. Clients are placed inside a large, tunnel-shaped machine, that can produce loud noises during the exam when operating. Sometimes contrast agents, such as Gadolinium, may be given to a client intravenously to aid in diagnosis and/or the procedure.”
The Foundation’s website further informs:
•    MRI Services provide improved outcomes for patients
•    MRI diagnostic services will improve patient quality of care
•    Diagnostic imaging tools will keep specialists local
•    The people of our area of Northwestern Ontario deserve a state-of-the-art diagnostic service
Melissa Slade, Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre Foundation Donor Relations / Operations Coordinator thanked everyone for coming out and supporting the MRI Campaign.
She said it was an example of the community coming together in order to help make a goal happen.