THUNDER BAY - The campaign to bring cardiovascular surgery to Northwestern Ontario continues to garner community support and the latest commitment will add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the project.
The Fort William Rotary announced on Wednesday its commitment of $500,000 to the Our Hearts at Home Cardiovascular campaign.
The money will be raised through it’s annual House Lottery Draw, with proceeds from the past two years and additional three years funding the commitment.
“We made a commitment for the $500,000,” said Cynthia Judge, president of the Fort William Rotary Club. “We tried to give $100,000 every year from the house proceeds until we meet that commitment.”
This newest donation will build on the Our Hearts at Home Cardiovascular campaign that has been ongoing for several years in an effort to bring life-saving cardiovascular surgery to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.
“I think we all know how much everybody in Thunder Bay will appreciate being able to have cardiac surgery here at home rather than driving more than a day away and being a long way from family,” Judge said. “It will be great to be here.”
Meaghan Sharp, chief nursing executive and director of cardiovascular sciences program at TBRHSC, said the Fort William Rotary Club’s donation is a phenomenal step in reaching the campaign’s goal.
“The benefit of having the surgery available here and patients not having to travel with their families, especially now with the times of the pandemic when there is limited visitations,” she said. “A donation like this will be put toward medical equipment that our clinicians need to perform life-saving surgery.”
The original goal of the campaign was $14 million, though Sharp said the overall goal changes depending on when surgery will actually become available, which could still be three or four years away.
“Medical equipment is not necessarily cheap these days,” she said. “We work closely with the Foundation to make sure we reach a certain goal. Whatever equipment we do need, the Foundation supports us with that. The Ministry supports us with the building structure.”
Sharp added that the campaign will continue even after surgery comes to the region because medical equipment needs to be upgraded and replaced over time.
But the community response to the campaign has been strong, with several organizations donating substantial sums of money.
And for Sharp, who required surgery six years ago that was not life-threatening, knows the importance of supporting the campaign and bringing these types of surgeries to the region.
“I often say don’t ever underestimate the power of home,” she said. “We think its fancy to go to Toronto and be in that area, but I just felt so lonely. Even though the care was phenomenal, it’s just this lonely feeling. You don’t have the comfort of being in your home area.”
Proceeds from ticket sales for the House Lottery will go toward the $500,000 commitment. Approximately 1,000 tickets are still available for this year’s draw and can be purchased online. The draw will take place on Oct. 12.
