Page 10 - Peter Munk Toronto Star

M10⎮TORONTO STAR SATURDAY, JANUARY 31, 2015
PETER MUNK CARDIAC CENTRE
> LIVE-SAVING PHILANTHROPY
Opening up their hearts — and wallets
From innovative technology
to professorships, donations
help in many different ways
ANNE BOKMA
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
When Linda Goldsack first began
campaigning for donations for the
Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (PMCC)
in the mid-’90s, she approached a
demographic she knew might one
day be most in need of its services —
stressed-out stockbrokers and bank-
ers whose workplace pressures
made them vulnerable to heart dis-
ease.
“I knocked on every door on Bay
St.,” she says. “This is one of the best ey,” he says. “I could be giving a whole an innovator in the marketing ser-
cardiac programs in the world and I
knew those guys would want to hear
about it.”
Goldsack, who now chairs the
PMCC’s current 10-year, $100-mil-
lion campaign, draws on a donor list
of 3,800 people, 20 per cent of whom
have given more than $1,000 to this
premier cardiac centre that treats
55,000 patients annually. The cam-
paign, called Building the Future, is
championed by board member Jef-
frey Rubenstein. Some give substan-
tially more than that. Peter and Me-
lanie Munk lead the pack and are the
centre’s largest donors with gifts of
almost $70 million over the past 20
years. But there are others who have
also given millions to fund every-
thing from medical units and equip-
ment to endowments for chairhol-
ders, professorships and fellowships
that help attract top medical staff.
“The Munks were the ones who
gave the centre its profile and raised
the bar on donations and this en-
couraged others to come on board,”
says Goldsack. “Philanthropists give
because they know this centre is sec-
ond to none. It attracts the best med-
ical professionals who know this is a
place where they can practise their
craft and save lives on a daily basis.”
Joe Burnett is one of those philan-
thropists. The 78-year-old chair of
Toronto’s Burnac Corporation —
specializing in real estate, produce
distribution and retail jewelry — has
Dr. Massimiliano Meineri, right, tests the 3D echocardiography imaging
equipment with Toronto philanthropist Arnold Irwin.
donated close to $15 million to the
PMCC over the past two decades.
“There’s an absolute need for fund-
ing in the cardiac area because heart
disease affects so many Canadian
women and men,” says Burnett.
“The cardiac centre is the finest of its
kind and I have so much admiration
for the doctors who work there.”
Despite his impressive eight-figure
donation to the PMCC, Burnett,
whose estimated worth surpasses $1
billion, says the need is so great he
feels he should be increasing his do-
nations. “It’s not quite enough mon-
lot more.”
Goldsack describes Burnett as a
hands-off donor. “When he makes a
gift, he will say to the leaders, ‘I’m
going to give you this money and you
decide how it’s best to be used.’ ”
Other philanthropists prefer to get
personally involved.
Toronto’s Arnold Irwin, the 88-
year-old scion of the Irwin Toy dy-
nasty — the Canadian distributor of
such popular American toys as the
Hula Hoop, the Slinky and Easy-
Bake-Oven — likes to meet with
medical staff to find out exactly how
his money is being put to use.
“I like to see the money I give go to a Sociable, a dinner, dance and silent
particular researcher or project and I
like to hear directly from them about
greenparkgroup.ca
THOMAS BOLLMAN PHOTOS FOR THE TORONTO STAR The echocardiography model is a
what it is they need,” says Irwin,
whose recent donation was used to
purchase 3D echocardiography im-
aging equipment to establish the first
Canadian anesthesiology cardiovas-
cular imaging centre.
“I get such a terrific kick out of
hearing how they were able to use
my money to help their project prog-
ress,” says Irwin.
Many among those who give do so
in memory of a loved one who died of
heart disease.
Such is the case with Tony LaSorda,
vices industry, who died of a rare
heart condition in 2011 when he was
56 and awaiting a heart transplant.
When he got sick, LaSorda became
a PMCC donor and his family and
friends have continued his giving leg-
acy by creating the LaSorda Fellow-
ship with a goal of raising $1 million
through special events over 10 years
to fund PMCC fellows — researchers
who play a key role in advancing dis-
covery in cardiology by undertaking
innovative projects, the results of
which are published in peer-re-
viewed journals.
Some $250,000 has already been
raised thanks to two golf tourna-
ments and the annual Tony LaSorda
auction, which also serves to bring
ON ON1
> A 3-DIMENSIONAL
part of the Canadian anesthesiology
cardiovascular imaging centre.
together LaSorda’s family, friends
and industry colleagues.
“Tony was a really giving man, a
great coach and mentor who made
people believe they could achieve
whatever they wanted to achieve,”
says Dom Ieraci, his close friend and
financial adviser. “When he passed
away, a group of us got together to
determine how we could continue
his legacy and continue the work he
had started with the fellowship pro-
gram.”
Goldsack says it’s been heartwarm-
ing to see the unwavering commit-
ment of LaSorda’s family and friends
to honour his memory through phil-
anthropic efforts.
“He was so loved and he touched so
many lives,” she says. “They want to
honour his memory for as long as
they can.”
While donors are motivated to give
for different reasons, one thing’s for
certain — their dollars make a differ-
ence. Goldsack notes that over the
years, charitable contributions to the
PMCC have supported such innova-
tions as mitral, pulmonary and aortic
valve repair and replacement, which
cost upward of $30,000 each and are
a less invasive approach to open
heart surgery, as well as the introduc-
tion of mechanical hearts, which cost
$100,000 each and keep people alive
while they wait for a heart trans-
plant.
Goldsack notes both these innova-
tions, originally funded by dona-
tions, now receive financial support
from the Ministry of Health because
they were proven to be successful.
“That’s how philanthropy saves
lives,” she says.
LOOK AT THE HEART
It’s a 3D experience like no other.
The result of a donation from
Toronto’s Arnold Irwin (founder of
Irwin Toy), a 3D echocardiography
machine produces three-dimen-
sional images of a cardiac pa-
tient’s heart while in surgery.
The images produced are on the
same accuracy level as CT scans
and MRIs, explains Massimiliano
Meineri, an associate professor of
anesthesiology.
“It used to be that we did echoes
through the chest wall,” says
Meineri. “These were very low-
quality images compared with the
3D. We would be looking at 2D
slices rather than the whole heart.”
Now, when the patient is under
anesthetic, a probe with special
camera is inserted down through
the esophagus.
It then generates images for the
surgeon to see the problem heart
while it’s beating.
“This confirms the diagnosis
before the surgeon opens the
heart, and better determines the
pathology,” Meineri explains, “so
the surgeon can do the best, most
accurate work for the patients.”
“For the patient,” Meineri says,
“we can be more precise, but we
can also do more preservative
surgery — we can fix more valves
rather than replacing them . . .”
The 3D echocardiography technol-
ogy is used again after surgery,
before the patient even leaves the
operating room.
Outside of the operating theatre,
this technology has other advan-
tages since Irwin’s donation has
meant PMCC has been able to put
together the required infrastruc-
ture for storing, sharing and ana-
lyzing 3D images of normal and
pathologic hearts. Indeed, Irwin’s
donation has helped fund the
Perioperative 3D TEE Anesthesia
Research Centre, one of few such
centres in the world and the first
of its kind in Canada.