to the efforts of a local charity. A capital campaign, launched by the Bermuda Health Alliance, hopes to see $5 million raised for its member charities through generous donations received from members of the public and the corporate community. Spearheaded by the consulting firm, Woodwin Ltd., the group will tonight turn to the public for help via a telethon to be aired on local television. According to Woodwind Ltd.'s Cristina Wineinger, the Alliance is a cause well worth supporting. "Health care is the great equaliser in our community,'' she explained. "It doesn't matter who we are, where we come from or what we look like, every one of us will be touched by the hospital at some point. Between 40 and 50 percent of us will have some form of heart disease. One out of every nine Bermudians is diabetic. One-third of us have had or will have a family member in the hospice or the Extended Care Unit, and every single one of us, at some point, is going to need the hospital, so it really is our hope that everybody in the community will contribute. This literally impacts on the life of every man, woman and child on the Island. "The Bermuda Health Alliance is a registered charity,'' she added. "As a company that provides consultative services to non-professional organisations, Woodwin Ltd. was hired by the Hospitals Board to work with (campaign chairperson and board member) Jane Spurling, to set up the Alliance and to then direct its fundraising efforts. The Bermuda Health Alliance has no paid staff, all work is done on a volunteer basis, and its because of that we are able to keep the cost of the campaign to a minimum.'' At present, the Alliance is comprised of six health care charities -- the Hospitals Auxiliary of Bermuda, Friends of Hospice, the Bermuda Heart Foundation, the Bermuda Diabetes Association, the Residents' Family Council and the Bermuda Hospitals Board. Designed to provide a strong, united voice on behalf of Bermuda's health, the Alliance also works to foster greater health care knowledge among all Bermudians and to raise the necessary funds to assure Bermuda the most advanced medical facilities and diagnostic equipment. Behind the Bermuda Health Alliance and its campaign is a very dedicated team of volunteers headed by campaign chairperson and board member, Jane Spurling. Campaign members include Louis Mowbray, Arthur Haycock, Stephen Kempe, James Macdonald, Nancy Gosling and Karl Wildi. Its board of directors include chairman, W. Keith Hollis, Adolph Luttke, Ramona Anderson, Kathryn Gibbons, Sadie York Vivenne King, Louis Mowbray, Arthur Haycock, Jane Spurling and Joy Pimental. The $5 million the Alliance is hoping to raise on behalf of its member charities will be distributed amongst them on a priority basis with the greater amount given to the Hospitals Board for renovations and new equipment. "Three and a half million dollars will go to the Hospitals Board for equipment in their new wing, six new operating theatres, and four outpatient clinics,'' said Mrs.

Wineinger. "The current operating theatres are over 30 years old. They have to be bigger and require more advance technology. We also need more of them because the population has increased. We can't just shut them down and renovate because they're in constant use; doctors are always operating. Also, the technological changes couldn't be made to the existing facilities. Each requires $500,000 in operating equipment.'' New outpatient clinics planned for King Edward VII Memorial Hospital are similar to those now being created around the world focusing on outpatient, as opposed to inpatient care, whenever possible. The established facilities will see the creation of a diabetes education clinic, a women's imaging clinic as well as a general clinic. "The outpatient clinics are a very exciting part of a global trend towards outpatient care rather than in-hospital treatment,'' she explained.

"We don't have a free, general clinic for outpatients in Bermuda -- a general clinic with a primary function of outpatient or clinic care to

4 Telethon hopes to raise $1 million for local health care facilities have a free, general clinic in Bermuda. There is the clinic on Victoria Street, but it generally caters to women and children.'' Funds earmarked for Friends of Hospice will enable necessary renovations at Agape House. "Friends of Hospice supports Agape House and it needs renovations to make it a better facility,'' explained Mrs. Wineinger. "Care for the dying is very different from regular hospital care. Agape House focuses on palliative care and is open to anyone who is terminally ill, not just those persons in the final stages of Aids.'' The Residents' Family Council is the smallest member of the Bermuda Health Alliance. Established to support residents of the Extended Care Unit at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, the group is to receive a new van, courtesy of Cable & Wireless to transport them. The Heart Foundation, the fourth member of the Alliance, is leading the initiative to build a new cardiac diagnostic unit to better cope with one of the leading causes of death on the Island.

"The unit will cost approximately $750,000,'' said Mrs. Wineinger. "Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in Bermuda. Between 40 and 50 percent of us will suffer some kind of heart disease so a cardiac diagnostic unit is badly needed.'' The Diabetes Association's recently-completed Epidemiology study revealed the disease to be of epidemic proportion in Bermuda. "The study, conducted to determine the incidence of diabetes in Bermuda, found that of senior citizens, one-third of all men are diabetic and one-fifth of all women and many of them are unaware that they have the disease. It also found that one in every nine Bermudians is diabetic and doesn't know it. Many of the cases are the result of the lifestyle we lead; it puts us in a category of having one of the higher rates of diabetes in the world. The Diabetes Association is now developing a national strategy to address what is, by definition, an epidemic. So we are raising about $330,000 for the Association. The Hospitals Auxiliary is unique in that it came to the Alliance as a donor. They contribute about $200,000 per year to our hospitals.

We also have a large base of volunteers who work within our hospitals and I have no doubt, that if we didn't have our pink ladies the hospitals would come to a grinding halt.'' Generous donations from the business community have already raised funding for the bulk of the campaign and it is hoped that the final $1 million will be secured through tonight's telethon. "The $5 million campaign has gone extremely well. The response has been overwhelming. We've had gifts from $50 to $500,000, enabling us to secure $4 million in cash and pledges, predominantly from the corporate community and now we're hoping to bring in the general public. "The telethon will begin tonight at 7.30 p.m.

and will be aired on ZBM. We are extremely grateful to them for doing this fabulous job. There will be terrific entertainment and we will make sure message of each member is delivered. It's really an opportunity for the Health Alliance to tell its story and to invite Bermuda to participate by calling in a pledge.'' The telethon, to be hosted by "the Captain'', popular radio announcer, Keevil Burgess, will also showcase representatives from each of the Alliance's member charities and maybe some of their patients as well. "We're really looking forward to what we hope to be a successful telethon,'' added Mrs. Wineinger. PHOTO Capital campaign chairperson for the Bermuda Health Alliance, Jane Spurling Board member Nancy Gosling Louis Mowbray, one of the Bermuda Health Alliance's many dedicated board members HEALTH HTH