The legacy of a Windsor doctor who helped deliver countless babies and helped couples conceive will continue in the region's new acute care hospital.
The Windsor Regional Hospital Foundation accepted a $1.5-million cheque on Tuesday from Doctor Tony Pattinson, a retired obstetrician-gynecologist, and his wife Mary, a retired nurse.
The money will help create the new operative birthing suite at the new hospital, which will be named the Dr. Tony and Mary Pattinson Operative Birthing Suite. The high-tech facility will house C-sections, emergency C-sections, and births deemed high-risk.
It will be adjacent to the new hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
Mary Pattinson said that after many years of working with couples who had difficulty getting pregnant, the donation ensures that the work would carry on.
"We've seen a lot of those struggles, and we've experienced a lot of those struggles," she said. "We know what it's like to get there. We know how important that moment is. Many of our couples had C-sections, or multiples, or complications, so it's very important to us that that room is well-equipped, is ready for everything."
While it is not known how the suite will be equipped until the new hospital is built, Dr. Pattinson acknowledged that the journey to having a baby has changed drastically.
"I'm not sure if there's actually more in fertility, but there are certainly more options available than there were 40 years ago," he said. "And now, with In vitro [fertilization], and so many add-ons to that, it's made a huge difference."
The Pattinsons are not newcomers to fundraising at Windsor Regional Hospital. Last year, they donated $50,000 for a transport ventilator to support patients being transported between departments or hospitals.
