Magna has donated $2.5 million to support cancer care at Southlake Regional Health Centre.
The donation is the largest to date to Southlake Foundation's $20-million Here is Where Cancer Meets its Match Campaign to expand capacity, improve wait times and upgrade to state-of-the-art technology at the Stronach Regional Cancer Centre.
“We are so grateful to Magna for this transformational gift for cancer care,” Arden Krystal, president and CEO of Southlake Regional Health Centre, said in a news release. “With this investment, we can improve access to care for patients at Southlake, increasing our capacity to deliver leading-edge cancer care in our communities.”
More than a decade ago, Magna played a pivotal role in bringing the Stronach Regional Cancer Centre to the Newmarket hospital with a multi-million-dollar gift that inspired donors to surpass an ambitious $60-million campaign goal and make access to life-saving cancer care close to home a reality.
Since opening in 2010, more than 737,254 care visits have taken place at the regional centre.
“Our partnership with Southlake’s Stronach Regional Cancer Centre over the past decade has helped provide innovative technologies and world-class health care to support our employees, their families, and our community. Today, we are proud to pledge our support once again to help transform cancer care right here, close to home,” said Aaron McCarthy, Magna's executive vice-president and chief human resources officer.
“Magna has been by our side since the beginning,” said Jennifer Ritter, president and CEO of Southlake Foundation. “Now they have stepped up once again with a lead gift to HERE is Where Cancer Meets its Match to help ensure that our communities have access to the cancer care they need, right here at Southlake. We are so grateful to them for their ongoing support of leading-edge care, close to home.”
Delivering cancer care to York Region, south Simcoe County and the northern Greater Toronto Area, Southlake’s Stronach Regional Cancer Centre combines an academic hospital system’s expertise and care options with deep community connections and a compassionate patient experience, the news release stated. The centre consistently ranks in the top three of Ontario’s 14 cancer centres and was selected as the first partner to join the Princess Margaret Cancer Care Network.
“Donor support is integral to our ability to put the right tools in the hands of our expert teams. With investment from our communities, and corporate partners like Magna, we will have the latest technology to continue to treat the growing number of cancer patients we see coming through our doors,” said Southlake radiation oncologist Dr. Woodrow Wells.
Demand for care is being driven not only by communities growing at a rate nearly twice the provincial average, but also as a result of deferred care during the COVID-19 pandemic when regular screening and medical attention was missed.
"When they finally arrive at Southlake, their cancer is more complex and has progressed requiring greater intervention and care placing further demand on our cancer centre," the hospital stated.
Here is Where Cancer Meets its Match Campaign will officially launch at Southlake Foundation’s Here and Now Gala benefiting the Stronach Regional Cancer Centre on Saturday, Oct. 22 at the Universal Eventspace in Vaughan, with its goals including:
- Bringing the first PET-CT to the region to expedite diagnosis and support personalized treatment;
- Expanding the radiation therapy program with new technology, replacing the original linear accelerators and adding a fifth to treat 400 more patients a year;
- Expanding the systemic therapy program for chemotherapy treatment to more than 870 more patients;.
- Expanding outpatient care for acute leukemia patients so that the most vulnerable don’t have to travel downtown for supportive care;
- Replace the MRI that is at end of its service life to conduct 8,000 scans a year.
