Vulcan County Health & Wellness Foundation

10/08/2026

Investing in Our Nurses Means Investing in Rural Emergency Care

When you live in a rural community, having skilled and confident healthcare professionals close to home matters.

The Vulcan County Health & Wellness Foundation is pleased to award education bursaries to two Registered Nurses from the Vulcan Community Health Centre to attend the 43rd Annual Emergency Medicine for Rural Hospitals Conference, January 22–24, 2027.

Presented through the University of Calgary’s Continuing Medical Education and Professional Development program, this annual conference focuses on the realities of providing emergency care in rural communities. Through lectures, hands-on workshops and small-group learning, participants explore current practices, guidelines and techniques for assessing and managing urgent and emergency patients in a rural hospital setting.

This year's learning includes topics such as pediatric trauma, toxicology, AI in urgent care, trauma skills, care of pregnant patients in distress, and acute stroke updates—practical knowledge they can bring directly back to our local hospital and share with colleagues. That sharing is an important part of the investment.

As Clinical Nurse Educator Brenda Ingraham noted in supporting the applications, the hope is that the two nurses will return and share what they have learned with their colleagues. Interest in the conference is already creating buzz among staff, and additional team members are being encouraged to pursue bursary opportunities.

For the Foundation, supporting continuing education is about much more than sending someone to a conference. It is about bringing new knowledge home.

Every new skill, updated practice and shared learning opportunity helps strengthen the healthcare team serving Vulcan County. In a rural hospital, where healthcare professionals must be prepared to respond to an incredibly broad range of situations, that investment directly affects the care available to all of us.

Congratulations to our two bursary recipients, and thank you for continuing to invest in your skills, your profession and the patients and families you serve. We look forward to hearing about what you learn—and seeing that knowledge shared right here at home.

10/01/2026

Meet Kathleen — and take advantage of her expanded counselling hours!

Kathleen Ladner offers free counselling sessions at the Vulcan County Health and Wellness Centre. As a Master of Counselling Psychology student at Yorkville University, Kathleen brings a trauma-informed, strengths-based and integrative approach to her practice, with a focus on empathy, warmth and creating a calming, supportive space.

Beginning October 1, 2026, Kathleen’s expanded appointment hours are:
📅 Tuesday: 5:00–8:00 pm
📅 Wednesday: 9:00 am–8:00 pm
📅 Thursday: 9:00 am–8:00 pm
💻 Friday: 9:00 am–4:00 pm (virtual appointments only)
📅 Saturday: 9:00 am–2:00 pm

To book an appointment, email [email protected].

Please share this post with someone who may benefit from free counselling support in our community.

09/30/2026

Living with cancer can bring questions, uncertainty and a need for connection.

Wellspring Alberta’s Be Well Talks is a free online speaker series featuring expert guest speakers on topics connected to life with cancer. Each session includes a Q&A and an opportunity to connect with others who understand what you’re going through.

Sessions are held live on Zoom and are not recorded, so register to attend.

Learn more and register: https://portal.wellspring.ca/service/a1dON000000jyEXYAY/be-well-talks

09/24/2026

For individuals experiencing urgent mental health concerns, they can now access virtual mental health support through the Emergency Department.

This service provides urgent mental health assessment and brief therapeutic support to help determine immediate needs and connect individuals with appropriate follow-up care.

This service is for individuals experiencing:
Depression or anxiety
Substance use-related challenges
Thoughts of su***de or self-harm
Overwhelming stress or mental health crisis

09/23/2026

Every Gift. Every Month. Every Step Matters.

Some of the most meaningful support the Vulcan County Health & Wellness Foundation receives arrives quietly.

Month after month, dedicated donors choose to make a recurring gift to the Foundation. There may be no cheque presentation, no photograph and no special occasion attached to it. Instead, there is something equally powerful: commitment.

Monthly giving reminds us that making a difference doesn't require one extraordinary gift. It can be $10, $20, $50 or whatever amount feels right. What matters is the decision to take that step, and to keep taking it.

Over the course of a year, those individual gifts add up. More importantly, when monthly donors give together, their collective impact grows even further.

That dependable support helps the Foundation keep investing in what strengthens healthcare and wellness close to home: equipment and spaces at the Vulcan Community Health Centre, wellness programming, education and bursaries, and resources that help ensure our community is cared for today and into the future.

We often talk about the big moments, the projects completed, the equipment purchased or the fundraising goals reached. But those moments are built from many individual acts of generosity.

Every gift is part of that story.

Monthly donors also provide something particularly valuable to a small rural foundation: consistency. Knowing that support will continue from one month to the next helps us look ahead, respond to opportunities and plan responsibly for the needs of our community.

To those who already give monthly, thank you.

Thank you for choosing our Foundation not just once, but again and again. Thank you for believing that healthcare close to home is worth investing in. And thank you for showing us that generosity isn't measured only by the size of a gift; it is also measured by commitment.

For anyone who has ever wondered whether a smaller monthly donation can really make a difference, the answer is simple:
Yes.

Because strong communities aren't built in one giant step.
They are built through thousands of smaller ones, taken together.

Donate here: https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E342861QE&id=2

09/20/2026

Dementia support is now available in our community.
The Alzheimer Society of Alberta and Northwest Territories will be at the Vulcan Community Health Centre to provide information and support for people living with dementia and those who care for them.
📍 Room 1363
📅 Third Thursday of each month
🕘 9:30 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
📆 Beginning September 17, 2026
To learn more or book an appointment, contact Nicole Pawlak at 1-866-950-5465 ext. 503 or [email protected].

Please share this post to help spread the word.

09/17/2026

Your Pledges at Work: New Equipment for the Vulcan Emergency Department

When our community supports the Vulcan County Health & Wellness Foundation’s Pledge Drive, those pledges become much more than dollars on a fundraising total. They become equipment, resources and tools placed directly into the hands of the healthcare professionals caring for our community.

Proceeds from the 2025 Pledge Drive have helped purchase two important pieces of equipment for the Emergency Department at the Vulcan Community Health Centre: an iCare IC200 Tonometer and a GlideScope video laryngoscope with accompanying blades.

Together, these purchases represent an investment of approximately $17,700 in local emergency care.

iCare IC200 Tonometer
The new iCare IC200 Tonometer measures pressure inside the eye—an important diagnostic tool when patients arrive in the Emergency Department with eye pain, injury, or other concerning symptoms.

The request from the Vulcan healthcare team identified the need for a more accurate and versatile unit. The existing equipment was still functioning but was described as old and increasingly difficult to use to test the eye properly when a patient is sitting or lying down. Staff noted that the new equipment would provide greater versatility, reduce frustration and support more accurate readings.

The IC200 is designed to allow measurements with patients in sitting, reclined and supine positions, making it particularly useful in an emergency-care environment where patients may not always be able to sit upright for an examination. The supporting material also notes that the device does not require anesthetic eye drops or an air puff.

At a cost of approximately $8,383, it is a relatively small piece of equipment with the potential to make a meaningful difference in assessment and diagnosis.

GlideScope Video Laryngoscope
The second purchase is a GlideScope video laryngoscope and blades, costing approximately $9,300.

This equipment assists physicians and emergency staff when a patient needs to be intubated to secure their airway. Unlike traditional direct laryngoscopy, video laryngoscopy provides the clinician with a camera-assisted view of the patient's airway.

For the Vulcan Emergency Department, staff identified that the equipment would help improve accuracy during intubation. They noted that having a video image makes the intubation process easier to view and provides a clearer picture, supporting a smoother process for the patient.

The supporting product information describes the GlideScope system as providing real-time airway visualization and being designed to support both routine and difficult airway management.

In an emergency, where securing an airway can be critical, having modern equipment available locally gives our healthcare team another important tool when every moment matters.

This Is What Community Support Looks Like
Neither of these purchases is particularly large or flashy. Most people will hopefully never need to know that either piece of equipment is sitting in the Vulcan Emergency Department.

But if you—or someone you love—does need it, it matters that it is here.
That is the purpose behind the Pledge Drive.

Year after year, individuals, families, businesses and organizations throughout Vulcan County make pledges because they believe in maintaining strong healthcare close to home. Those individual gifts come together, allowing the Foundation to respond when our local healthcare professionals identify equipment that can improve the care they provide.

The iCare Tonometer and GlideScope are two more examples of that partnership in action: our healthcare team identifying a need, our community responding, and better tools being placed at the bedside.

To everyone who pledged in 2025, thank you.

Your pledge became something real. Your generosity is now at work in our Emergency Department, helping care for our community when it is needed most.

09/13/2026

08/28/2026

A Legacy Rooted in Farming, Community and Care

The Vulcan County Health & Wellness Foundation is honoured to announce an extraordinary gift of $500,000 from Sunny Glen Farms Ltd., made at the direction of lifelong Vulcan area resident Cyril F. "Cy" Rebalkin.

This remarkable gift reflects one man's gratitude for the care he received, his belief in the importance of rural healthcare, and his desire to give back to the community he proudly called home.

The following tribute has been shared by the Rebalkin family.

A Legacy Rooted in Farming, Community and Care

Cyril F. “Cy” Rebalkin was a lifelong farmer, entrepreneur and proud resident of the Vulcan area. Born in Vulcan, Alberta, in 1939, he came from humble beginnings in a family that homesteaded in Vulcan County. Through more than 70 years of determination, hard work and dedication to agriculture, he built Sunny Glen Farms into a strong and respected farming operation.

Cy’s success was rooted in practical knowledge, resourcefulness and a willingness to adapt. Farming was far more than his occupation; it was his passion, his identity and his life’s work. He also understood that a thriving rural community depends on strong local services, trusted professionals and neighbours who look after one another.
During the last decade of his life, Cy faced several health challenges and received exemplary care from the doctors, nurses and staff at the Vulcan Community Health Centre and local medical clinic. Their skill, compassion and dedication allowed both him and his life partner, Minota Webster, to manage their health while maintaining a meaningful quality of life close to home.

Having access to local testing, diagnostic equipment and medical services often meant Cy could receive care without travelling to a major centre. That convenience and reassurance made an important difference to both him and his family.
Cy also recognized the important role of the Vulcan County Health & Wellness Foundation and local volunteers in raising funds for healthcare priorities, including new equipment and expanded services such as mobile ultrasound technology and laboratory improvements.

He believed a strong rural hospital was essential to the well-being and long-term vitality of the community. It provides timely care close to home, supports families during difficult moments and helps healthcare professionals deliver the best service possible.

For these reasons, Cy chose to make a donation through Sunny Glen Farms Ltd. to support the continued work of the Vulcan County Health & Wellness Foundation. His gift reflects his gratitude for the care he received and his desire to help ensure quality rural healthcare remains available for future generations.

On behalf of Sunny Glen Farms Ltd. and the Rebalkin family, thank you to the doctors, nurses and staff whose care meant so much to Cy. His donation is a lasting expression of appreciation for the community he called home and the people who cared for him.

Cy's gift also fulfills a vision shared by hundreds of people throughout Vulcan County.
In April 2025, the community embarked on an ambitious campaign to raise $300,000 to renovate the Palliative Care Suite at the Vulcan Community Health Centre. Over the following 15 months, residents, businesses, service clubs, volunteers, event participants, memorial donors, and community partners came together in an extraordinary demonstration of grassroots philanthropy, raising approximately $256,000 toward that goal.

With Cy's gift, the fundraising target required to move the Palliative Care Project forward has now been achieved.

This milestone belongs to the entire community. Over the past 15 months, residents, businesses, service clubs, volunteers, and donors have come together with a shared purpose. Cy's extraordinary generosity does not overshadow those efforts—it completes them, ensuring this community vision can now move forward.
In keeping with Cy's wishes, the Vulcan County Health & Wellness Foundation will continue working alongside the community and leadership at the Vulcan Community Health Centre and the Rebalkin family to determine how the remaining funds can best strengthen local healthcare while honouring the intent of his remarkable gift.

Cy never sought recognition for this gift. His family has chosen to share his story because they believe it demonstrates something much larger than one act of generosity. It reflects what is possible when a community recognizes a need, comes together, and chooses to invest in its own future.