Scarborough Health Network launches $100M hospital fundraising campaign

The Scarborough Health Network (SHN) Foundation has launched a $100-million hospital fundraising campaign, focusing on a lack of donations compared to other Toronto institutions.

“When will we all be treated equally? Because right now the newest Canadians are in the oldest hospitals,” an ad released on Monday as part of the Love Scarborough campaign said.

“The city’s most diverse area is also our most ignored and although we make up more than 25 per cent of the population, we get less than one per cent of the hospital donations.”

Dr. Martin Betts, the corporate chief and medical director of critical care at SHN, said when it comes to care at the hospitals, focus areas have involved dialysis treatments, spinal and joint replacement surgeries in addition to general care.

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“[Medical staff] are providing an incredible, even world-class, [level of] service to the community, but we’ve always struggled to attract the capital and the infrastructure to make it happen,” he told CityNews, pointing to operating rooms still being used that were built in the 1950s.

“Time has really changed since then and in order for us to provide the next level of service and innovations to our patients, we need the space and the equipment to be able to do so.”

Betts said the funds will be used for the expansion of SHN’s Birchmount and Centenary emergency departments, noting the facilities operating at more than two-and-a-half times above the intended capacity. In 2019, the Ontario government announced $500,000 would be given to SHN for early planning work to expand Birchmount hospital’s emergency room.

He also said the funding will go to a community mental health hub, dialysis unit expansion as well as a diagnostic imaging “concourse” (noting it will allow staff to conduct “state-of-the-art” investigations and reduce invasive procedures).

SHN staff said the three hospitals — General, Birchmount and Centenary — service a catchment area of more than 830,000 people and noted 59 per cent of the population are new residents to Canada.

With files from Brandon Rowe