Lake Chelan Health Guild B recently benefitted the Chelan community and healthcare providers by raising funds from private donors and members to purchase major medical equipment and address specific hospital needs.
The Lake Chelan Mirror reports that Mary Lou Schoolcraft, President of Lake Chelan Health Guild B, recently presented checks from recent fundraising events to Lake Chelan Health Hospital Board chair Jordana LaPorte.
The first event, Paint the Town Pink, was held in October and raised $20,000.
The second event, the Karen Collins Estate Sale, raised $6,200.
Schoolcraft says the funds raised from the events are part of a larger effort to improve healthcare and support the community.
Heat- and cold-related illnesses, smoke exposure, and several other seasonal hazards are now being watched closely by the Washington State Department of Health.
The department has launched a public dashboard tracking weather-related health incidents using data reported by hospitals across the state.
The dashboard, which provides county-by-county data, tracks motor vehicle crashes, carbon monoxide exposures, asthma-related emergency room visits, and even injuries from recreational boating.
An estimated two of three (66%) Chelan County citizens visiting emergency rooms July 21, 2024, for instance were for smoke related health problems.
In December 2024, an average 1.3% of emergency hospital visits were weather related.
The new dashboard comes after a series of extreme weather-related deaths across Washington in recent years. In June 2021, a deadly heat wave killed an estimated 1,200 people across the Pacific Northwest, 400 of those deaths being among Washingtonians.
Emergency preparedness information can be found here.
Comments