Since its inception, the Boundary Trails Health Centre Foundation (BTHCF) has raised over $6 million for the Boundary Trails Health Centre (BTHC) located between Morden and Winkler.

At Friday night's annual fundraising banquet thousands was added to that total which has supported various programs and equipment purchases for the hospital.

Foundation Chair Grant Thiessen says it's been amazing to see how far the Foundation has come.

"It's been incredible, I mean it's all happened one dollar at a time over the many years the Foundation has been active. It's just awesome to see the dollars that have been raised."

For the 2018-19 fiscal year, the Foundation has committed to fund over $180,000 of equipment purchases for various departments at BTHC.

The Foundation funds two major programs, the Palliative Care and Spiritual Care programs at BTHC. This money goes towards two part-time palliative care nurses, a part-time palliative care volunteer coordinator and a full-time spiritual care coordinator, a $200,000 commitment per year.

The two programs have been a tremendous help for the community says, Thiessen, and says in recent years he's developed a greater appreciation for these programs.

"A number of years ago my mother passed away, and we spent the last days with her in palliative care, and all of a sudden it hits, what actually goes on. You don't really appreciate it until you need it, and as far as spiritual care it's something near and dear to our community."

Thiessen notes it feels great to be able to provide a Chaplain, the services, and comfort to people in their final days.

In the long-term, the Foundation will continue to work with various partners towards a possible future expansion of the hospital.

These partners helped fund a study to figure out what the needed square footage would be, and the potential cost of a possible expansion.

Thiessen says the Foundation is currently waiting for their proposal to be brought forward to Manitoba Health, and says they are optimistic that something will come of it.