Looking Back – and Forward – at Your Accomplishments
Published Monday, December 30, 2024
Message from Dr. Stephen Adams Chair, Board of Directors, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation
This is the time of year we typically take a moment to look back and review our accomplishments. You helped us accomplish so much here at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation! Thanks to your support of initiatives such as the Foundation's signature events; a new event that I was particularly impressed with, the Resolute Hearts Around the World dinner and world travel auction; and of course the Thunder Bay 50/50 Draw all helped the Foundation fund important equipment purchases and programs to improve patient care.
For example, this year your support helped fund a new local cancer research group, a new Cath Lab, a new PET/CT scanner, and many other vital projects. We also had some donors who came forward this year to fund the full purchase price of some items. These include Bev and John Dolcetti, who donated the entire cost for new laser eye surgery equipment, and an anonymous donor who provided funding needed for lab equipment to help diagnose cancer. Thanks as well to everyone who, with matching funds from the Sandra Schmirler Foundation, helped us raise over $91,000 during Giving Tuesday!
I can't help but look to next year though, because there are so many exciting projects on the horizon. As we announced in November, you contributed $6.6 million in new equipment and programs to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre – many of which will come next year.
For example, new Phase One renovations are scheduled to start within the Emergency Department in 2025. Dr. Kyle Lansdell, Chief of Emergency and Trauma Services at the Hospital, said that these much-needed changes will “significantly improve patient flow, enhance privacy and safety, and improve the overall experience for everyone who walks through our doors.” That's crucial, because the Emergency Department is the busiest area of the Hospital. It's also one of the busiest Emergency Departments in Ontario, providing care not just for patients in Thunder Bay but supporting all of Northwestern Ontario. The improvements will also ensure that patients that present with mental health needs are treated with the compassion and dignity that they deserve.
I'm excited too for the upcoming Cardiovascular Surgery (CVS) Program's groundbreaking. The project involves building a whole new unit near the Main Entrance to the Hospital, so it will soon be a visual reminder of the change that's coming. The CVS Program will ensure thousands of patients in Northwestern Ontario can get heart and vascular surgery right here in Thunder Bay.
You also helped fund renovations to a Radiation Therapy treatment suite so that our Cancer Centre can bring a third LINAC to its program, scheduled to be completed in 2025 as well.
So much is happening next year, and it's all thanks to our generous donors who believe as I do that our healthcare should be closer to home.
I want to wish a Merry Christmas to everyone who's celebrating, and a Happy New Year to all. You've helped bring many improvements to the Hospital this year and healthcare in general. I can't wait to see what we accomplish for patients in Thunder Bay and across Northwestern Ontario next year.
- Dr. Stephen Adams