Page 56 - An Innovation Spirit ...

It’s more than
writing a cheque
For the donors to the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, the money is a small part.
The relationships and trust in the team also make them give
By Renee Sylvestre-Williams
Don and Carol Pennycook hold
a polo match for charity every
August in Hudson, Que., located
between Ottawa and Montreal.
It’s an opportunity to enjoy
the weather and watch two
exhibition games. It’s also an
opportunity for the Pennycook’s
to raise funds for the Peter
Munk Cardiac Centre (PMCC).
Mr. Pennycook, a patient at
the PMCC, was approached by
a member of the Peter Munk
Cardiac Centre Campaign of
the Toronto General & Western
Hospital Foundation. “They
were looking for some help to
fund the project on afib [atrial
fibrillation, where a patient has
an irregular rapid heart rhythm
causing the atria to quiver or
fibrillate] research.” He agreed as
he had become a patient due to
afib. Mr. Pennycook had donated
to charities before, but he wanted
to do something on an ongoing
basis like an event; hence, the
polo match every August.
For both the PMCC and the
University Health Network
(UHN), donors and their
financial and educational
contributions are a very
important part of their ability
to provide top health care and
carry out cutting-edge research
in the field of cardiac care.
“It’s philanthropic giving
that has really set the bar in
the institution,” says Linda
Goldsack, Chair of the Peter
Munk Cardiac Centre Campaign.
“My team and I are successful
in our campaign by building
relationships with existing,
donors and with new donors, as
evidenced by recently achieving
the goal of raising $100-million
for the centre.” Every nickel
counts, and while some donors
can give more than others,
54 Peter Munk Cardiac Centre
Goldsack and her team ensure
that their donors know and
are supportive of exactly where
their donations are directed.
The Peter Munk Cardiac
Centre was created in 1997
with donations from Peter and
Melanie Munk. Since then, the
centre has become internationally have this new equipment with
renowned, with 1,500 open
heart surgeries performed a
year, 1,800 minimally-invasive
heart procedures and 55,000
annual patient visits. In 2008,
the Ontario Ministry of Health
and Long-Term Care found
that the PMCC had the best
surgical outcomes for patients
with heart-related issues. A lot
of this is a result of the PMCC’s people live longer. Some of
ongoing fundraising campaign.
“One year a group of golfers
applied the funds raised through
a golf tournament to purchase
an echocardiography machine,”
says Ms. Goldsack. “We needed
a new, state-of-the art unit.
There was no money left in the
operating budget to buy one,
and it was going to be a huge
benefit to the specialists to
the extra capability of a new
echo probe. With a price tag of
roughly $300,000, it’s not always He received his new heart and
in the operating budget of the
hospital to buy this equipment.”
These dollars make a difference, going in for transplants.
whether they’re going to
research or to the purchase
of machines and tools to help
the money raised has gone
toward mechanical hearts,
which, when you’re waiting for
a heart transplant, could be the
difference between life and death.
David Prince knows this first-
hand. Lean, relaxed and enjoying
the good weather over coffee, it’s
hard to believe that he suffered
a catastrophic heart attack
eight years ago, when he and
his wife, Susan, were in Brazil.
They spent a nerve-racking
two months in Brazil before Mr.
Prince could be flown back to
Canada to continue treatment
at the PMCC. He was put on
the heart transplant list and
received a mechanical heart
(LVAD) while he was waiting.
immediately got involved with
the PMCC via education and
talking with patients who were
Henry Bank also began his
donor relationship with the
PMCC in 1999, thanks to a high
blood pressure diagnosis. He
tried to lower it with diet and
exercise, but “all hell broke loose
on a Sunday.” He had severe
intermittent pain down his leg.
When he went to the hospital,
he found out that there was
no pulse in his leg. He had an
echocardiogram and was sent
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