Lakeridge Health Foundation: 2023/2024 Annual Report Update

Lakeridge Health Foundation has so many reasons to celebrate our 2023/2024 fiscal year. Thanks to our generous donors, expert staff, and the Durham Region community, we achieved our best year ever!

In April, our Foundation announced an incredible milestone for Lakeridge Health. Our Cancer Campaign, which aimed to raise important funds to advance cancer care in areas like diagnostic imaging, surgery, laboratory and pathology, treatment, and education, exceeded $21 million! 

More than 24,000 donations and investments through Our Cancer Campaign were made over the span of three years and are already making a significant impact at Lakeridge Health’s Oshawa Hospital, the Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre in Pickering, and beyond.

Donor support of the Campaign helped establish a Centre of Excellence in robotic surgery at the Oshawa Hospital. In April, Dr. Julie Ann Francis and Dr. Elena Igwe performed the first surgical procedures using Lakeridge Health’s new da Vinci Surgical Robot. Since then, ‘Optimus’ has had a remarkable impact on surgical care in our community.

Our Cancer Campaign also funded the addition of a PET-CT scanner, an innovative diagnostic tool that helps reveal important details about a patient’s cancer. Approximately 30 patients a week are sent outside our community for PET-CT scans as part of their diagnosis and treatment. As of 2024, the Oshawa Hospital now offers these services, thanks to donor support. 

In addition to surpassing our Campaign’s goal, Lakeridge Health Foundation also achieved $7.9 million in revenue – a new organizational best! We could not have done this without the families, businesses, and community groups that chose to support our Oshawa and Whitby Hospitals throughout the year.

More than $4.5 million was granted to the Oshawa and Whitby Hospitals. Outside cancer care priorities, a biliblanket was purchased for the Oshawa Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to allow infants to be held, cuddled, and fed while receiving phototherapy treatment. A MyoSure unit was secured to drastically improve care for women, and 63 dialysis chairs were replaced across both sites including the Howard and Stephanie Humphrey Dialysis Centre in Whitby.

We continued to invest in the professional development of our skilled hospital staff. During Nursing Week in May, 14 nurses received financial support from the Margaret Stainton Nursing Bursary to advance their education through courses, certificates, and conferences. The O’Regan Family Allied Health Education Bursary for allied health clinicians was awarded in March, supporting five allied health professionals as they advanced their education.

The support we received from our community this year was incredible. Thank you to our donor family for your kindness and our Lakeridge Health team members who work tirelessly to ensure Durham Region has access to exceptional health care, close to home.