Tickets are now on sale for the 20th annual Red Deer Hospital Lottery, with proceeds going toward leading-edge patient beds.

The hospital’s executive director Rob Swanson said many of the facility’s patients have problems with mobility, and that the beds are safer when it comes to transporting patients.

“The edges of the mattresses have a little bit of a firmer edge so that it doesn’t sink in and patients slide off the beds. In many cases, our patients will have some mobility issues. It sounds like small thing but it actually makes a great deal of difference,” Swanson said.

In addition to safety, he said they will also benefit from the increased comfort.

“They have an air surface as well. The air surface is really important of course because for our patient populations who are more immobile, they may be more prone to pressure, ulcer, sores. We want to ensure … the bed is actually a therapeutic surface as well. That’s a big deal to us,” Swanson said.

He said they want to buy 17 beds, which cost about $40,000 each.

Swanson said supporting the hospital benefits all of central Alberta, as half of the facility’s patients come from outside Red Deer and Red Deer County.

“Our facility is truly regional and the impact of these beds then really touches our entire zone,” he said.

There are 37 prizes up for grabs this year, worth more than $1.1 million.

The grand prize is an $839,895 house in Red Deer’s Laredo community which also comes with $35,000 of furnishings.

Tickets can be purchased by phone or online. The cutoff date for the early bird prize is May 13 at 11 p.m.

The final ticket sales cutoff is June 24 at 11 p.m.