Palmerston & District Hospital Foundation has been named the Ontario first-place winner for 2025 Growing Home with BASF, taking home a $25,000 prize.
The award was presented Sept. 26 during a community celebration featuring a bbq and movie in the park.
Why it matters: The Foundation is $500,000 short of its $8 million campaign goal to purchase an MRI machine, construct a space for it, and train staff to operate it.
“This prize will support our local hospital’s monumental task of bringing MRI technology to our rural community,” said the Foundation in an email. “With residents waiting an average of 133 days for access to MRI scanning, it will help local farmers and community members access the timely and reliable medical care they deserve.”
Dale Franklin, the Foundation’s development officer, said having a locally available MRI eliminates the burden of long-distance travel to urban centres that rural patients must endure to access scans. Particularly in an area that serves a significant agricultural community where the demands of farming are time-consuming and “take a toll on both physical and mental health.”
The Foundation extended a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to Harriston Agromart, who nominated them for the competition, as well as Wellington County residents and everyone who voted for them throughout the contest.
“This win is a testament to the strength of rural communities and the power of local support,” the Foundation wrote.
The Kiwanis Club of Petrolia and Area received $10,000, while Huron County’s Gateway Centre For Rural Health (Gateway CERH), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the health and quality of life for rural residents, received $5,000. Gateway CERH collaborates with the University of Guelph and the One Health program and offers a Farmers’ Safety and Wellbeing Project, including its “Shed Talks” initiative, which addresses agricultural mental health.
