(From left) Carmine Militano, Chair, St. Boniface Hospital Foundation Board of Directors; Lorrie Kirshenbaum, Director, Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences; Eric Lafreniere, Vice President & Head of Commercial Banking, National Bank; Ross Feldman, Medical Director, Cardiac Sciences; Karen Fowler, President & CEO, St. Boniface Hospital Foundation.
July 14, 2021
National Bank of Canada (National Bank) has joined in the celebration of St. Boniface Hospital’s 150th anniversary with a $150,000 gift in support of cardiac treatment and research at the Hospital.
“While heart disease remains a pervasive health concern for Manitobans, we see how St. Boniface Hospital, as the region’s Cardiac Centre of Excellence, is improving patient outcomes, helping people live longer, fuller lives than they would otherwise,” said Louis Vachon, President and Chief Executive Officer of National Bank. “National Bank is making this donation to help further St. Boniface Hospital’s long legacy of compassionate and innovative care – especially in a community many of our employees and clients call home.”
Including this latest gift, National Bank has donated more than $430K in support of St. Boniface Hospital projects.
“National Bank’s steadfast partnership supports new equipment to enhance cardiac care right now and research to better understand the multi-faceted causes and optimal treatments for heart disease,” said Karen Fowler, President & CEO of St. Boniface Hospital Foundation. “We’re thankful for their past generosity, and for this new commitment in celebration of the Hospital’s historic 150th anniversary.”
Sponsoring flagship fundraiser
With the donation, National Bank is assuming title sponsorship of the Cardiac Classic golf tournament for the next five years. The 2021 National Bank Cardiac Classic takes place Monday, August 9 at Niakwa Country Club.
Manitoba’s Premier Charitable Golf Tournament, the annual Cardiac Classic is one of the Foundation’s flagship fundraisers. From its inception, the event has raised more than $500,000 for cardiac care and research at St. Boniface Hospital.
Annually more than 60,000 patients receive care through St. Boniface Hospital’s Cardiac Sciences Program. This includes over 1,100 cardiac surgeries in a typical year. The Hospital’s program ranked high in the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s Cardiac Care Quality Indicators Report (2017) with some of the best scores among hospitals in nine provinces, including the top bypass and valve replacement survival rates in the country, and the second-lowest readmission rate after open-heart surgeries in Canada.
Dr. Ross Feldman, Medical Director, Cardiac Sciences, credits a community of care for the results: “Hundreds of health-care professionals in the Cardiac Sciences community at St Boniface Hospital are involved in the journey of patients having these procedures. The St. Boniface Hospital Foundation and its generous donors through their partnership with the Cardiac Sciences Program have been important supporters at every step of those journeys.”
In addition to the Cardiac Sciences program, the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences at the Hospital’s Albrechtsen Research Centre is widely regarded as one of the preeminent basic cardiovascular research programs in the world and a leading force in the fight against heart disease at the cellular and molecular levels.
“Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Donors to St. Boniface Hospital Foundation, through events like the Cardiac Classic, help our researchers to develop new insight into disease mechanisms that will yield benefits in the areas of women’s health, prevention, and novel treatments for heart disease, high blood pressure, and heart attacks, ultimately making a difference by saving and improving people’s lives,” said Dr. Michael Czubryt, Interim Executive Director, St. Boniface Hospital.