Dauphin Regonal Health Centre (DRHC) is set to get a bit of a facelift thanks to Tim Hortons Westman and the Smilezone Foundation.

Through their Smile Cookie campaign, Tim Hortons Westman franchisees Rhonda Pardy and Greg Crisanti are looking forward to helping provide a more welcoming atmosphere at the region’s largest health facility. The initiative aims to enhance the healing environment and the comfort of patients and their families within the health centre.

“I was introduced to Smilezone and their team after seeing the completion of a Smilezone project at the Brandon Regional Hospital,” Crisanti said.

“Witnessing the transformation to the hospital as well as the impact on both patients and staff, we knew we wanted to bring this opportunity to Dauphin.”

Smilezone Foundation is a registered children’s charity founded by Scott Bachly and Adam Graves in 2012.

The foundation’s mission is to “make tough days a little brighter” for children receiving medical treatment in hospitals and health centres across Canada.

That is accomplished by renovating existing health care spaces (such as waiting rooms, playrooms and patient rooms), over a single weekend into fun and engaging “Smilezones” to harness the uplifting power of a smile and creating a safe space where children and their families can find comfort and distraction during challenging times.

“On behalf of our foundation’s board of directors, we extend our heartfelt thanks to Tim Hortons Westman for generously sponsoring the 2024 Smilezone project at Dauphin Regional Health Centre, a partnership made possible through their Smile Cookie campaign,” Bachly said, adding medical professionals have been consulted to uniquely design Smilezones for each facility.

Find the full in depth story in this week's Dauphin Herald!