Donors pave way for next gen of health care
Close relationships made ‘hospital of the future’ a possibility
Ten years ago, when the Women’s College Hospital (WCH) Foundation set an ambitious fundraising target of $70 million to build the “Hospital of the Future,” not only was Canada on the brink of an economic recession, but the foundation was also trying to sell the unknown.
How could it get donors to invest in a model of health care that was unpiloted?
“It was a challenge for people to understand what we were all about,” says Kathy Hay, president and CEO of the WCH Foundation.
The proposed facility would revolutionize the way health care was provided to women and reframe what it meant to be a “hospital.” Instead of in-patient beds, post-surgery recovery would happen in the comfort of patients’ homes. A new clinic delivery model would centralize care, turning WCH into a one-stop healthcare shop. Marginalized communities would be supported through mobile screening clinics. And above all else, the unique health-care needs of women would be central to the hospital’s ongoing research.
Despite the obstacles, the WCH Foundation surpassed its multimillion dollar goal in 2015, raising $77 million. More remarkably, it did so without an anchor donation, instead relying on the support of 22,000 donors.
“They believed in us without being able to see what the ‘Hospital of the Future’ would look like,” says Hay. “There was no one in the country doing the type of care we were doing, so our relationship with donors was critical.”
One of these donors was Ed Clark. The former president and CEO of TD Bank Group was attracted to the project for its ability to address health-care gaps.
“You ask the question, ‘Is one women’s hospital one too many for Cana- da?’ It didn’t seem to me that it was,” he says.
As the honorary chair for the WCH Foundation, Clark is also the rallying force for the philanthropic community. While WCH’s mission to provide care exclusively to women appealed to many donors, Clark says the hospital’s focus on innovation was particularly attractive to the business community.
“If we are to solve some of the cost pressures on the health-care system, this is the business model of the future,” says Clark. “I think they’ve built a model that will be imitated across Canada.”
Hay admits having an anchor donor would have been easier, but she believes the conversation generated by a broad donor base propelled the campaign forward. At the annual Women for Women’s luncheon, for example, more than 800 women are invited to participate in a conversation about health care. An open dialogue about health was central to its success. Over the last five years, the event has raised more than $1.5 million to help build the new hospital. Women for Women’s is continuing in 2016 and beyond with focus on raising funds for WCH’s priorities: global women’s health research, innovative solutions to improve the health system as a whole, and better patient care that puts women and their families first.
“Donors are the voice of the community,” says Hay. “It’s through the donors that we understand what our mission should be and the [Ministry of Health] understands what’s important to the community.”
Conversation is also central to WCH services, as patient Elana Trai- noff discovered. Last February, at 40, Trainoff suffered a heart attack. She became a participant in the WCH’s cardiac rehabilitation program, the only one of its kind in Canada designed exclusively for women.
“Having a heart attack — especially as a young woman — was a very isolating and scary experience. Having other women to talk to about that in a female-focused environment was really nice,” Trainoff says. “From the minute I walked in, they got, from a women’s perspective, what I was dealing with, both emotionally and physically.”
True to the vision of the “Hospital of the Future,” WCH became a holistic recovery centre for Trainoff during her rehab. Visiting two to three times per week, she participated in supervised exercise, accessed the hospital’s social services and nutri- tionist, and took part in education programs. She’s since switched to visiting specialists including a cardiologist, who practises at WCH.
“I want it centralized because they know how to look at the full portfolio of your health care and from a woman’s perspective,” she says. “Women’s College really helped me get my life back in a way that I didn’t even have before.”
In October 2015, the second phase of the new WCH opened, marking the end of construction on the facility — one which patients such as Trainoff describe as “modern,” “bright” and “accessible.” However, while fundraising for the bricks and mortar component of the “Hospital of the Future” has wrapped up, the work of the WCH Foundation is far from done.
Its focus has turned to supporting the WCH’s ongoing research, patient care for chronic conditions and the development of innovative solutions that will allow patients to recover more quickly at home.
None of this could have been accomplished without the generous support of WCH’s donors.
“The days of writing a cheque and handing it over are done. It’s not a transaction; it’s a relationship,” says Hay. “It’s about partnership, accountability and impact, and we need that in health care.”