Presented at RVHS 2011 Annual General Meetings of Members
by RVHS Foundation Chair Jim Ward

On behalf of everyone in the Foundation, I would first like to express our appreciation to our donors and volunteers. We are honoured and continually encouraged by your dedication to health care in your community.

I’m proud to report that thanks to your efforts, Rouge Valley Health System Foundation has had a very successful year.

Our focus, as always, is firmly guided by our mission, to partner with the community to invest in superior health care at both Rouge Valley Centenary and, Rouge Valley Ajax and Pickering.

In the last year we have had tremendous support in advancing all of our campaigns and annual programs for these two hospital campuses.

• Image is Everything — I would like to thank Lucy Stocco for her leadership in chairing the campaign cabinet with the equal dedication of my fellow cabinet members Dr. Mark Preditis, Dr. Rom Stas, Mayor Dave Ryan, Ron Halliday, Sherry Robinson and John G. Smith. Since the June 2010 launch of that campaign, we have been overwhelmed by the support of the community. The campaign is 75 per cent complete so far as we get closer to our goal of $5 million. And after a whirlwind year of events, large and small, the campaign will receive a huge lift, in late August with the arrival of the MRI machine at Rouge Valley Ajax and Pickering hospital!

• Buy-a-Bed — This campaign is currently in the midst of a two-year effort to purchase 100 new hospital beds for Rouge Valley Centenary. The campaign team has been very involved and none more so than our co-chairs, Paul and Janet Ainslie. The events have all been fun and successful. And donor stories have been many and varied for this campaign, from the 8-year-old donating her lemonade stand money, to patients purchasing beds outright by donating $5,000 to $12,000 to the campaign.

• The Heart of It All — Because the need exists, and the Foundation is always ready to support the purchase of leading-edge medical equipment to provide the best health care, please allow me to tell you about the launch of the Heart of it All campaign. This is a $500,000 campaign serving both hospital campuses, to make it possible to purchase echocardiogram machines for the Rouge Valley Health System Cardiac Department. This is critical equipment in order to diagnose heart problems and ultimately, save lives. The April launch garnered great attention from the media and has laid the groundwork for a successful campaign. We are very proud to have an amazing campaign team headed by co-chairs cardiologists Dr. Ram Vijayaraghavan and Dr. Paul Galiwango, along with a dynamic group of cardiac care staff from the Rouge Valley Health System.

• Of special note, this year marked the completion of a major milestone for the biggest fundraising effort ever undertaken for the Ajax and Pickering campus. The Foundation must single out the many supporters of the Vital Links Campaign for their hard work and dedication. We were blessed to have had exceptional people bring their talents to the campaign and the long-awaited grand opening on Feb. 17, 2011, I can honestly say, was worth the wait. It is a great achievement for the many volunteers, along with the contributions of a large number of corporations, individuals and community groups who rallied around their hospital throughout the years of the campaign.

Please allow me to present just a small sample of the many great highlights we have enjoyed in the past 12 months from these three campaigns.

• September 2010 — Pickering Mayor Dave Ryan and Ajax Mayor Steve Parish, Region of Durham Chairman Roger Anderson and many more political leaders, local business owners, philanthropists and golf enthusiasts supported the Annual Mayor’s Charity Golf Classic. Thanks to generous support the tournament raised a net funding total of $150,000 for Image is Everything. (It must be noted that more than 100 lead donors, companies and service groups have brought us to this point. Donors include two key physicians, six Legions, one Lions club, and 15 bartender events. The Auxiliary to Rouge Valley Ajax and Pickering must be singled out here for their continued support as illustrated by their amazing $500,000 gift to Image is Everything.)

• January 2011 — The Town of Ajax announced its $500,000 contribution to help the hospital take a big step closer to bringing an MRI to west Durham. And this spring the City of Pickering matched that gift to the campaign, bringing in an additional $500,000.

• February 2011 — Chaired by Anne and Gord Moore, the To Rouge with Love cocktail parties and events raised awareness to Rouge Valley Health System’s Cardiac Care program. This year, it of course supported the Heart of it All campaign. Each event hosts a special guest from the cardiac care program to explain why the equipment is so important and needed.
  
  Less than a year after making their pledge, members of the Rouge Valley Centenary Volunteer Services reached their target of $50,000 to help buy 10 desperately needed new beds for the hospital. We offer a special thank you to the 400-plus volunteers who together make Centenary better every day with their efforts. The Foundation appreciates their continued support and this contribution to the Buy a Bed Campaign.

• March 2011 — The Foundation's annual gala was a wonderful success. Chaired so capably by Ruth Ricci, it was recognized as the Image is Everything gala. We witnessed great support for the event as always, but enjoyed wonderful surprises this year, with Ron and Carol Halliday’s $100,000 gift and Ontario Power Generation announcing a $300,000 gift.

• May 2011 — McDonald's restaurants celebrated the 18th McHappy Day. Rouge Valley Health System Foundation's Buy a Bed campaign was a beneficiary of a portion of the proceeds from Scarborough restaurants, with many hospital staff and volunteers attending McDonald’s locations to help serve food and collect donations. Special thanks to local McDonald's owner/operators Dale Bartlett and Terri Toms for their ongoing, generous support.
  
  Rouge Valley Centenary's Corporate Bed Race at Scarborough Town Centre was also a tremendous success with $36,000 raised thanks to the enthusiasm and generosity of the sponsors, participants and volunteers involved. That enthusiasm carried over to the Highland Creek Heritage Festival June 18 where the bed races were held for a second straight year.

• June 2011 — we enjoyed a second visit from City TV’s Breakfast Television, increasing the community awareness to the campaign and the need for new beds. It was the conclusion of a staff Bed-a-thon in the Margaret Birch Wing of Centenary, which in itself is the continuation of the wonderful support we have enjoyed from hospital staff throughout the campaign. Almost 100 staff members in the hospital have proven they care about patient comfort by committing to payroll deductions as gifts to the campaign.

Along with these campaigns, our annual programs have enjoyed great support and advancements in the past 12 months.

• The Foundation’s Legacy of Care Society was officially launched on September 22nd with a cocktail reception at Cedar Ridge Creative Centre. The Legacy of Care Society was created by the Foundation’s Planned Giving committee to honour donors of deferred gifts — bequests, gifts of life insurance and charitable gift annuities — during their lifetimes.

• Nine of the Society’s 31 inaugural members were in attendance and received exclusive membership pins from myself and Planned Giving committee chair Frank Ortencio. We are grateful to past RVHS Chair Janet Ecker for attending to present the keynote address.

Thank you so much for your ongoing support. Together, we are enhancing health care in our community!