RUMFORD – “Imagine my surprise when I opened a card and it said Thank you for the blanket warmer’,” laughs Don Cummings, chairman of the Rumford Hospital Development Committee. “It’s the most unusual thank-you card I ever got!”

The card was sent to Cummings and the hospital Development Committee by Melody Holmquist, one of the CT scanner technicians who works in the hospital’s Radiology Department. Knowing that the blanket warmer was purchased with 2003-2004 Annual Appeal funds, she decided to thank the people who work hard to make each year’s appeal a success.

“That blanket warmer is a blessing,” said Holmquist. The CT scanner and nuclear medicine rooms in radiology are kept chilly because of the sensitive computers that power these diagnostic tools. That’s why the blanket warmer is particularly welcome in these areas.

“You can see a transformation when you give a patient a warm blanket,” said Holmquist. “You would think they had won the lottery!” She tells every patient that the blanket warmer was purchased with Annual Appeal funds, and some have responded that they donated.

In addition to two blanket warmers 2003-2004 funds were used to purchase other equipment, including an EKG monitor and a multi-station gym, and to help expand the oncology suite.

The 2004-2005 Annual Appeal funds will be used to fund the purchase of equipment for the expanded day surgery and emergency departments that are under construction now.