Another shot in the arm for the Thunder Bay Hospital’s multi-million dollar capital campaign to bring cardiovascular surgery to Northwestern Ontario. The John Andrews Foundation recently announced they are contributing $500,000 towards the Our Hearts At Home campaign.
Rod Morrison is a former cardiac surgery patient who needed to go to southern Ontario for his care. Morrison stresses how vital having your family supports close to you is for both the patient and their caregiver. He adds travelling while sick is very stressful and having this service available in Thunder Bay will be life-changing for future patients.
Officials tell us with this donation they are closing in on $12 million, with their total goal coming in at $14 million.
Hospital Foundation president Glenn Craig tells us they are thrilled by the donation and encourages locals to get involved in giving back and ensuring this vital service can be offered locally.
“We are proud to continue our support of local healthcare services,” said Allan McKitrick, Chair, John Andrews Foundation. “This particular donation is significant as all of us have seen the stress that people experience when they need to leave town to access life-saving cardiac surgery. We want to ensure that, should people need surgery, they can have it here at home.”
Continued McKitrick, “We’ve been donors to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation for decades, funding many different areas of care throughout the Hospital. We’ve seen our donations in use and it’s very apparent that they’re used to enhance healthcare right here in our community. That’s vitally important, not only to us as funders, but to all residents who have chosen to make Northwestern Ontario their home.”
