Today, RVH Foundation Board Chair, Paul Larche, announced the launch of the foundation’s Keep Life Wild campaign with a goal to grant $100 million to support Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH)’s expansion plans.
The Keep Life Wild campaign supports three priorities: expanding RVH’s regional clinical programs, including heart, cancer, trauma, youth mental health and other programs that offer specialized care for people from across Simcoe Muskoka; building an all-new healthcare facility in Innisfil, the largest community in the region without its own community hospital; and, innovation in care through the application of research breakthroughs at the bedside, and through leading-edge medical education.
Along with the new healthcare facility in Innisfil, which will treat residents from across south Simcoe and Barrie, RVH’s expansion plan will double the current site on Georgian Drive in Barrie, while also doubling its staff to about 6,000 employees, helping to drive the region’s economy.
Once approved, this project will be funded in large part by the province of Ontario, but not entirely. The provincial government also requires community investment to fund the project’s full cost. The community generously supported two previous RVH campaigns, which built the Simcoe Muskoka Regional Cancer Centre and created RVH’s regional cardiac and child & youth mental health programs. The Keep Life Wild campaign, which will run for ten years, is the most ambitious to-date and is the largest in Simcoe Muskoka history.
“RVH is critical to the healthcare system across all of Simcoe Muskoka. More than half of RVH’s patients live outside of Barrie. With this expansion of our regional programs in cancer, heart, stroke, and youth mental health, we will be able to care for more people, sooner. With more beds, more advanced imaging and more specialized care, we can reduce wait times, particularly in the Emergency Department, reduce travel for care, and eliminate hallway medicine,” says Gail Hunt, RVH President and CEO. “The expansion will also reduce the patient volume pressures at all community hospitals in the region. Every hospital in the region needs access to timely care from RVH’s regional programs for their patients. This expansion isn’t just about RVH, it’s about the people of Simcoe Muskoka.”
RVH Foundation has debuted a multi-media awareness-building effort to rally everyone in the region to keep world-class, specialized care close to home, without long wait times and hallway medicine. Using the talents of local creative professionals, this advertising features RVH patients, residents and RVH staff and captures the unique way of living in Simcoe Muskoka and why it’s worth coming together to protect. Click here for a sneak peek at this unique campaign.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to change the future of healthcare in our region. The people of Simcoe Muskoka have done it before, and we can do it again. But it’s going to take all of us to achieve this ambitious goal – donors who give monthly, at community events, through employee campaigns, every gift will count. We are especially grateful to our anonymous lead donor who has committed $9 million, for their generosity and for helping us build the momentum needed to unleash the full potential of RVH and the care we provide to the region,” Paul Larche, Chair, RVH Foundation.
To support the campaign, this anonymous donor family will match all new gifts to the Keep Life Wild campaign up to $9 million, doubling the impact of every donation the community makes. Donations can be made at KeepLifeWild.ca, where the public can also learn more about RVH’s plan for the future of health care in the region and how to get involved.