Hospital receives $1-million gift
Donation from Martin and Denise Pick used to purchase state-the-art surgical tools, equipment
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The Peterborough Regional Health Centre Foundation has received a substantial gift from local philanthropists Martin and Denise Pick.
The Picks have donated $1 million to the foundation, demonstrating the couple’s continued commitment to fostering innovation and compassion, reads a release.
Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) Foundation president and CEO Lesley Heighway made the announcement Tuesday at a private family event unveiling a new recognition sign in the couple’s honour.
Heighway says the donation is representative of the Picks’ lifelong love of community and shared dedication to improving the lives of friends and neighbours.
“Martin and Denise believe in the power of philanthropy to make their hospital and hometown great,” said Heighway, in the release.
“They have a long history of making transformational gifts and their generosity has been shaping the future of health care in this region for years. We’re beyond grateful for their continued support.”
The couple, who both have longstanding relationships with PRHC as donors and volunteers, said they were inspired by what they see as a continuous commitment to innovation and excellence on the part of the hospital.
“Denise and I feel that the quality of health care available in a community is tied to its overall quality of life — to its ability to grow and prosper,” said Martin. “We want to help make sure the doctors and nurses at PRHC have the tools they need to deliver the best care. To do that, we need to support them and give them the equipment that will allow them to innovate.”
Denise said the more that can be done to support PRHC, the more we can help improve health care for patients from Peterborough and surrounding communities.
“We hope our donation encourages others to join us,” said Denise.
The donation was made through the Remembering Otto and Marie Pick Charitable Foundation, a family charitable fund named for Martin’s mother and father. Heighway said the gift is already hard at work improving care for patients from across the region through investment in minimally invasive intervention, and state-of-the-art diagnostic technology.
“The Pick family’s gift was instrumental in allowing PRHC to upgrade a general operating suite with state-of-the-art minimally invasive surgical tools this winter — one of four suites undertaken by the foundation,” said Heighway.
Dr. Joslin Cheverie, PRHC general surgeon, said the investment “has given my colleagues and I access to brand new, leading-edge equipment to perform cancer surgeries.”
Thanks to the support, PRHC has been able to introduce fluorescence-guided imaging to general surgery, Cheverie added.
“This new, specialized system is letting us operate with increased precision,” she said. “It’s an advancement that has tremendous potential for the treatment of bowel and other cancers.”
The remainder of their gift helped fund two new, leading-edge CT scanners that support safer, more accurate diagnosis by generating higher quality, more comprehensive images. It’s also ensuring PRHC’s experts can treat more urgent and chronic conditions like cancer, stroke, and traumatic injury without invasive surgery through the expansion and upgrading of the interventional radiology suites.
PRHC president and CEO Dr. Lynn Mikula told the family that she and her colleagues are frequently inspired by the generosity of foundation donors.
“It’s so encouraging to have the support of people like Martin and Denise Pick, who care as much about our health-care future as we do and are willing to invest in us and the technology we need to make our vision a reality,” said Mikula.
“This is more important than ever, given the system-wide challenges we are facing,” she added.
“Addressing these challenges requires fresh thinking and innovative solutions. We simply can’t move forward without the partnership of individuals, families, and organizations who share our vision for the hospital and what we can achieve together.”