A Brampton health system is setting its sights higher after reaching a major fundraising goal.
William Osler Health System Foundation announced Wednesday that, having met a $1 million fundraising effort to support doctors and local hospitals in Brampton during the COVID-19 pandemic, it will seek to raise an additional $1.5 million through its Health Care Heroes campaign, in an effort to raise a total of $2.5 million.
The first fundraising effort saw more than 1,800 donors give to the hospital, to help purchase critical pieces of equipment like ventilators, vein finders, vital signs monitors, stretchers and thermometers.
“The equipment needs during this challenging time are immense,” said Ken Mayhew, President and CEO of Osler Foundation. “We have a clear opportunity to help meet these critical needs and are increasing our overall fundraising goal to $2.5 million. Osler hospitals and our health care heroes are at the frontlines of this crisis; we must help give them the tools they need to continue delivering the best patient care possible. We are grateful to those in the community who have stepped forward and generously donated.”
To kick start fundraising toward this new goal, major donor Martha Rogers will generously match new donations—dollar for dollar—up to $500,000.
Donations made to the campaign will fund critical equipment at Brampton Civic Hospital, Etobicoke General Hospital and Peel Memorial Centre for Integrated Health and Wellness.
“The need to support our hospitals has never been greater than it is right now,” says Martha Rogers, chair of The Rogers Foundation. “The doctors, nurses and staff on the front lines of this crisis have been working tirelessly to keep us healthy and safe. It’s so important that we
support their heroic efforts any way we can.”
The original $1 million goal was met thanks to the incredible support from the community.
Last week, in honour and support of Osler’s new President and CEO, Dr. Naveed Mohammad, Sajjad Ebrahim and his family announced a gift to match donations up to $100,000 to purchase urgently needed equipment.
Residents can donate online by visiting the fundraising website at oslerfoundation.org/covid19 or by calling (905) 863-2440.
The hospital is still accepting donations as part of their PPE drive – for more information or to fill out an online form, visit the equipment drive page at williamoslerhs.ca/PPEDrive.
