By the time Charlotte FM’s microphones went quiet on Oct. 8, Charlotte County had raised $462,000 for its hospital, roughly the cost of this year’s goal.
The station’s 13th annual Radiothon is supporting a new 3D mammography unit with additional contrast imaging equipment. Following the 12-hour fundraiser, Charlotte County Hospital Foundation (CCHF) president Steve Backman announced the equipment would be ordered the next day.
The equipment has a $482,000 price tag, according to radio host Mark Downey. Backman said it would replace a mammography machine purchased 12 years ago, bringing sharper images and more detailed investigations to the region.
For patients, the difference could be measured in anxious days.
Some people requiring additional imaging currently travel to Saint John, Backman explained, waiting for another appointment and its results.
“They then have to wait for an appointment in Saint John and for a response — sometimes 30 to 60 days,” he said. “That’s stressful.”
The new equipment would allow more of that work to happen locally. Backman also noted that men can develop breast cancer and require mammograms as well.
Charlotte FM now is based in Saint John, but every October for the Radiothon, its broadcast returns to St. Stephen from inside the hospital.
Downey spent the previous evening setting up, rose at 4 a.m. and returned shortly after 5 a.m. on Thursday morning to start the big day. Backman arrived at 6:30 a.m., carrying a new title alongside foundation president: mayor of St. Stephen.
Elected this spring, Backman is well known in the community for his commitment to health care and updating and advancing the local hospital.
“You could feel the excitement as soon as I arrived,” Backman said. “The excitement in the building just kept growing.”
Since its inception 13 years ago, the fundraiser has grown into an annual investment in the hospital’s capabilities, helping support equipment that changes where people receive care.
“We’ve interviewed patients who used equipment that basically saved their lives,” Downey said. “It’s amazing to know we raised the money to get that equipment here at Charlotte County Hospital.”
That sense of responsibility reaches back much further.
In 1902, the Chipman family donated their home to establish the Chipman Memorial Hospital. Renamed Charlotte County Hospital in 1950, the hospital served patients until the present hospital opened in October 1953.
“It’s been at the core of who we are as a community,” Backman said. “We’re continuing that legacy.”
Continuing it has required both generosity and determination. Residents rallied to preserve the operating room in 2016. Fundraising has helped bring new services and equipment within reach, including the recent addition of a CT scanner.
The hospital remains a point of regional pride because people have repeatedly taken responsibility for its future.
On Radiothon day, that commitment came in the form of monetary donations and volunteer hours, while whoopie pies, muffins and sandwiches from businesses and neighbours kept flooding in, keeping everyone fed.
“Everybody’s been feeding the volunteers,” Backman said with a smile.
The food was a small detail with a familiar meaning: everyone found something to contribute.
More than a century after a family gave the community a place for its care, Charlotte County continues to protect and improve it, insisting that local care matters.
