Hospital receives record donation
[attach]5578[/attach]Toronto East General Hospital has five million reasons to smile.
The hospital was recently the recipient of a $5 million donation from the Thomson family, to establish the Ken and Marilyn Thomson Patient Care Centre as part of Toronto East General’s redevelopment.
“We’re humbled and beyond grateful to tell you that Toronto East General is the recipient of such a remarkable gesture,” said the Toronto East General Hospital Foundation’s chair, Michael Burns.
“It is my honour to announce that Diana and Peter Thomson have made a transformational gift of $5 million to honour Peter’s parents Ken and Marilyn Thomson.”
The $5 million donation represents the single largest private donation the hospital has ever received. The new care centre will be a multi-storey building at the corner of Coxwell and Sammon avenues.
Peter Thomson — grandson of Roy Thomson, the founder of the Thomson Corporation, which preceded Thomson Reuters — said he wanted to give something back to the hospital that has done so much for his family.
“It seems to be our first place to call when we’re sick, we always end up coming here,” he said. “It’s as enjoyable as coming to a hospital can be.”
He said his family embraced the opportunity to contribute to Toronto East General’s redevelopment while honouring his parents.
“We’ve always been impressed with the doctors, the staff, and the treatment we’ve received here, it’s truly a special place,” he said. “We’ve had such a positive history coming here, when we saw their plans, and their vision, we got really excited that we could help them achieve that vision.”
Burns said the donation would assure the Thomson name is forever linked to Toronto East General.
“This extraordinary donation means much more than just an investment in bricks and mortar,” he said. “It means ensuring the renewal of community health care, and it means believing in compassionate, quality, and accessible health care for families close to home.”
Toronto East General president and CEO Rob Devitt said the new building will accommodate the most advanced medical technology, better infection control, fewer patient transfers, will be more accessible and offer more privacy and comfort to patients.
The new building will accommodate 280 medical beds and will consolidate dozens of outpatient programs into a single location.
“It will be the cornerstone for an even higher standard of service and excellence here at East General … it represents a huge step forward in our ability to care for our patients,” Devitt said.
