Toronto East General gets 200K donation

[attach]4555[/attach]Toronto East General Hospital is one step closer to building their new patient care centre, thanks to a $200,000 donation from mining company Iamgold.

The Toronto-based gold producer donated the money in the name of Larry Phillips, a recently retired former executive.

Phillips, previously the senior vice president of corporate affairs at Iamgold, has also served as chair of the Toronto East General Hospital.

“I was very honoured,” he said after finding out about his former employer’s donation. “It’s not very often that a corporate organization makes that kind of commitment on behalf of one of its departing executives.”

Phillips first got involved with the Toronto East General Hospital Foundation in 2001. Born and raised in Toronto and a former student at East York Collegiate Institute, Phillips said he wanted to do something locally after his extensive business travels.

“It seemed like a nice way to reconnect with the community and give back,” he said.

Toronto East General Hospital Foundation president Teresa Vasilopoulos said the money will go toward the establishment of a recovery room area as part of the new patient care centre.

The new centre will be a multi-storey building on the southeast corner of the hospital site as part of their $210 million expansion project. The Toronto East General Hospital Foundation is aiming to raise $60 million from private sector funding, $40 million of which has already been committed.

Phillips said he would advise anyone who wants to get involved in his or her community to do so sooner rather than later.

“You don’t have to wait until you finish working or until somebody asks you to get involved,” he said. “It’s nice to be able to actually give something back before you retire.”