Transformative gift will create Canada’s first no-wait Emergency Department, modernize diagnostic imaging, and create a surgical quality excellence program
SCARBOROUGH (June 21, 2022) – Scarborough Health Network (SHN) Foundation announced a transformative, $20-million gift today, donated by The Northpine Foundation. This gift will create the Northpine Emergency Department at SHN’s Centenary hospital, the Northpine Diagnostic Imaging Concourse at SHN’s General hospital, and the Northpine Centre for Surgical Quality Excellence. All three priority projects will advance equitable healthcare for Scarborough—one of Canada’s most diverse communities—and poise SHN to be a national leader in emergency care and surgical patient outcomes.
The Northpine Foundation’s vision is to expand human-centred innovation in Canada and be an impactful force for good. True to their mission of supporting communities that face limitations, their historic donation to SHN will help remove barriers to care for all who live and work in Scarborough.
“Northpine views human health as a critical factor to support thriving communities, and we know the people of Scarborough deserve the same level of care and facilities as the rest of Toronto,” says Aatif Baskanderi, CEO of The Northpine Foundation. “We were inspired to support SHN because of the gap in healthcare donations to Scarborough, whose diverse population is 59% New Canadians. We know that there are great learning opportunities in Scarborough that can help improve the health of others across Ontario, Canada, and globally.”
From left to right: John Phillips, George Cope, Chairman at BMO and Honorary Co-Chair of the Love, Scarborough Campaign Cabinet, Liz Buller, President and CEO of SHN, Alicia Vandermeer, President and CEO of SHN Foundation, Aatif Baskanderi, CEO of Northpine Foundation, Bayan Khatib, Impact Manager – Refugee Newcomers at Northpine Foundation, Nkem Kalu, Product Manager at Northpine Foundation, and Dr. Cathy Phillips.
Photo Credit: SHN Foundation
This momentous donation will do incredible things for SHN’s Birchmount, Centenary, and General hospitals, including:
- Create the Northpine Emergency Department at Centenary hospital, which will be the first no-wait Emergency Department in Canada. This ground-breaking model will incorporate a physician at the front of care and more efficiently triage, test, and treat patients to reduce wait times.
- Modernize diagnostic imaging through the Northpine Diagnostic Imaging Concourse at General, which will support the radiologists and specialized professionals performing more than 335,000 diagnostic imaging exams yearly at SHN. It will bring all imaging services together in a single location at the General hospital in a new state-of-the-art concourse.
- Launch the Northpine Centre for Surgical Quality Excellence and become a leader in quality based on an innovative program piloted in the surgical department. SHN has the second-largest surgical program in Ontario and, with Northpine’s investment, will become a leader in positive surgical outcomes, research, and innovation.
“Today’s announcement will enable us to push forward toward our ambitious campaign goal and break down barriers to equitable care for Scarborough,” says Alicia Vandermeer, President and CEO of SHN Foundation. “The Love, Scarborough campaign has become a rallying cry for Scarborough, and we are so grateful that The Northpine Foundation answered our call. It’s an honour to work with community leaders and donors like Aatif and his team, and it’s our hope this announcement will inspire others in the community to join us in our campaign to Love, Scarborough.”
Northpine’s gift is the largest in SHN’s history and the most significant in support of SHN Foundation’s Love, Scarborough campaign. Launched publicly in January, the campaign highlights health inequities faced in Scarborough and encourages the rest of Toronto to back SHN up. To date, the campaign has reached $85 million of its’ $100 million fundraising goal.
“The Northpine Foundation’s generous gift will provide our talented, compassionate and inclusive healthcare teams with the infrastructure they need to care for our diverse and growing Scarborough community,” says Liz Buller, President and CEO of SHN. “Their belief in helping communities flourish is abundantly clear, and their generous gift will help transform the future of care for Scarborough.”
The Northpine Foundation is funded by Cathy & John Phillips through Klister Credit Corp., an early investor in Shopify Inc.
About Scarborough Health Network
Across our three hospitals and several community-based satellite sites, Scarborough Health Network (SHN) is shaping the future of care. Our innovative programs and services are designed for the specific needs of the Scarborough community, and our medical expertise and compassionate care are accessed from well beyond our borders. We operate Ontario’s largest regional nephrology program and regional community-based cardiovascular rehabilitation service; the designated cardiac centre for the Central East region of Ontario; and an internationally designated cardio-oncology clinic centre of excellence. As a community-affiliated teaching site for the University of Toronto, a Toronto Academic Science and Health Network member, and partner with other universities and colleges, we are committed to helping train the next generation of healthcare professionals. Learn more at shn.ca.
About Scarborough Health Network Foundation
Situated in one of Canada’s most diverse communities, Scarborough Health Network (SHN) Foundation inspires the support necessary to improve patients’ lives through exceptional care at Scarborough Health Network across three hospitals and eight satellite sites. Since its inception, the Foundation has worked with generous donors, volunteers and community members to raise funds needed to build state-of-the-art infrastructure and purchase the latest medical technology, supporting the SHN’s vision to be Canada’s leading community teaching health network. Learn more at SHNFoundation.ca.
About Northpine Foundation
The Northpine Foundation is a startup philanthropic organization with big dreams! Our vision is to propel and expand human-centred innovation in Canada. Our focus is to support communities that encounter economic and social limitations. We achieve this initiative by designing, funding, and partnering on initiatives that improve community flourishing. We combine best practices to invest in bold, new, and untried approaches. The Northpine Foundation’s resources and annual giving capacity rank it as one of Canada’s top private foundations. The Northpine Foundation’s core value of kindness is exhibited through acting as a professional, innovative, reflective, aggressive, and impactful force of good. We aim to enable Canada’s most marginalized populations to thrive. We value voice.
