scroll down
scroll down
annual gratitude report
2022 | 2023
-Anonymous
Gratitude for Our Community
Our foundation exists to enable healthcare advances through
donor support.
Healthcare is a technology-driven sector, and one that is required to constantly evolve, improve, and innovate. It takes a community of generous people to move our health system forward and move forward it does.
If you are reading these words, then you are part of our community.
The Royal Alexandra Hospital receives patients from across one-third of Canada’s geographic landmass—starting from within the heart of Edmonton, the very location of this hospital, stretching out across Alberta, the western prairies, and far into the northern territories.
And in that same vein, Albertans’ support for healthcare is also profound—in fact, Albertans have contributed more than $300 million to our healthcare system last year alone, through 70 different health foundations.
Gratitude for Our Community
Our foundation exists to enable healthcare advances through
donor support.
Healthcare is a technology-driven sector, and one that is required to constantly evolve, improve, and innovate. It takes a community of generous people to move our health system forward and move forward it does.
If you are reading these words, then you are part of our community.
The Royal Alexandra Hospital receives patients from across one-third of Canada’s geographic landmass—starting from within the heart of Edmonton, the very location of this hospital, stretching out across Alberta, the western prairies, and far into the northern territories.
And in that same vein, Albertans’ support for healthcare is also profound—in fact, Albertans have contributed more than $300 million to our healthcare system last year alone, through 70 different health foundations.
Donors, like patients, come from all walks of life. What connects everyone is the desire to advance care, provide more effective treatments and, ultimately, extend and save more lives. That is our community, and that is our collective culture.
So, let us take this opportunity to thank and celebrate you—our community of caring supporters—for all you have given and continue to give.
In this report, we share with you some wonderful examples of donors who give generously in support of the Royal Alexandra Hospital and its many centres of excellence and, also, how patients and community members have been positively impacted by such dedicated support to advancing care.
Community support builds great hospitals. Thank you for being part of our community.
Sincerely,
Sharlene Rutherford, MBA, BPA
President and CEO
Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation
Welcome to the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation’s Annual Gratitude Report
Much like the name indicates, this report delivers on its mission to share our Foundation’s sincere appreciation for the contributions made by our donors. Their generosity saves and changes the lives of hundreds of thousands of patients from northern Alberta and beyond who rely on the Royal Alexandra Hospital and its research and centres of medical excellence.
Saying thank you is one of our values; we call it Stewardship. It is accompanied by several others that are core to our vision and mission: Excellence, Integrity, Innovation, Respect, and fostering Strong Relationships. We have used these values to guide the appreciation and stories we share below-stories we hope will demonstrate the real difference each dollar makes and how grateful we are for all gifts, large and small.
The Roots of Our Community
The Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation respectfully acknowledges that we are on the traditional lands referred to as Treaty 6 Territory, and that the City of Edmonton and all the people here are beneficiaries of this peace and friendship treaty. Treaty 6 encompasses the traditional territories of numerous western Canada First Nations such as the Cree, Saulteaux, Blackfoot, Metis, Dene and Nakota Sioux. We acknowledge all the many First Nations, Metis and Inuit people who have called this area home since time immemorial.
The Royal Alexandra Hospital first opened its doors in 1899. It was initially built to serve a population much smaller than today’s, and has since grown to now serve hundreds of thousands of patients every year. These patients hail from a geographical area that stretches to cover one-third of Canada’s landmass, with roughly one-third of the patient population coming from outside of Edmonton. As the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation, we are honoured and humbled to support a hospital serving and providing compassionate care to so many patients from so many communities, with such diverse backgrounds and needs.
The Community BridgingGaps Together
Looking to break the cycle of patients experiencing homelessness, teams at the Royal Alexandra Hospital envisioned a better way. And, a community of donors came forward.
The Community BridgingGaps Together
“It’s the worst feeling for doctors and nurses and social workers to say to a person, ‘That’s all we can do. And you’re basically on your own.’”
-Dr. Louis Francescutti, Royal Alexandra Hospital emergency physician
But thanks to a community effort driven by Royal Alexandra Hospital staff and the incredible response from generous donors, those words are being spoken less often by emergency department healthcare staff and physicians.
Home to one of the busiest emergency departments in Canada, the Royal Alexandra Hospital sees a high volume of patients experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. Doctors, nurses, and social workers are often in the difficult position of releasing these patients back into homelessness once their treatment is complete. This leads to extremely poor health outcomes, as these patients often end up as repeat visitors to the emergency room.
Fueled by a desire for change and refusing to accept the status quo—staff at the Royal Alex led by Dr. Louis Francescutti banded together. They worked with the Jasper Place Wellness Centre and designed a pilot program which would focus on providing transitional care for patients experiencing homelessness or other housing insecurity. The idea was to create a figurative bridge following their release from hospital: supporting those patients with immediate housing and key wrap-around supports to help them avoid being hospitalized in the future and help them navigate the system to find permanent housing.
Upon learning of this work, the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation enthusiastically took on the cause of fundraising for the initiative in early 2022 and the community of supporters grew quickly. Several physicians in the Royal Alex’s emergency department provided immediate charitable support, with public donations rolling in quickly after that.
In fact, long-time foundation donors John and Ewa Burton immediately recognized the need for the program and decided to give a significant gift.
“We saw it as a real opportunity to help those who had no place to go, and get them started on the road to recovery,” they said. “It’s a great opportunity to change lives for the better, and we were very pleased to be able to help!”
The incredible donor response helped raise the profile of the Bridge Healing program. Launching the program meant no longer relying on charitable efforts alone. The provincial government has committed funding for two years through Alberta Health Services in what is now being referred to as the ‘Bridge Healing Transitional Accommodation Program.’ In January 2023, 12 transition beds at Jasper Place Wellness Centre opened to patients and an additional 24 beds will open later this year.
Thank you to the many generous donors who saw the vision and impact of the Bridge Healing program. Together, we are making a difference. This exemplifies what is possible when compassionate people from all walks of life band together to improve health outcomes for Albertans.
Showing Gratitude Near and Far
In the fall of 2022, Betty Swanson suffered from heart failure and ended up at the CK Hui Heart Centre where she underwent emergency surgery that saved her life.
Showing Gratitude Near and Far
Betty Swanson hails from Chauvin, Alberta, a small village close to the Saskatchewan border. She is a retired municipal administrator, a mother of four, a grandmother to ten, and a great-grandmother to seven.
One fall night in 2022, Betty started having pain in her shoulder and chest. While she’d experienced shoulder pain in the past, this time felt different. Late that evening, Betty called her son-in-law to drive her to the nearest hospital, 50 kilometres away in Provost, Alberta.
Doctors immediately began running tests and administered a “clot buster”–a treatment used to dissolve blood clots and restart blood flow to the heart. Though Betty showed signs of improvement, within a few hours of arriving at the local hospital, she was transferred by air to Edmonton for further treatment.
Betty ended up at the Royal Alex and was taken directly to the catheterization lab in the CK Hui Heart Centre, where she had stents put in three arteries.
During her stay at the hospital, Betty noted the outstanding care she received. “The treatment I received from the beginning in Provost straight through to the CK Hui was excellent. In the Critical Care Unit, it was almost like one-on-one care. The nurses, doctors, and support staff were just amazing.”
After her experience, Betty decided to donate to the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation. Betty hopes the funds will be used to educate people about heart health– both for preventative care and so that people can learn more about recognizing the signs of a heart attack.
When Betty’s shoulder pain first started, she says she initially wasn’t even sure she was having a heart attack–that the pain felt different than usual, but not how you might see a heart attack portrayed in the movies.
Had she not trusted her instincts and called for help, she might not be here today telling her story.
“I think people need to be more aware of their bodies and treat their bodies better. I am a part of a Facebook group for women who’ve had heart attacks. The signs of a heart attack are different for women. Advocate for yourself and insist that your doctor checks you out accordingly.”
Pucks with Purpose
Sometimes a single connection is all that is needed for two
communities to do great things together.
Pucks with Purpose
When the Canadian Athletic Club (CAC) Women’s Community Society formed in 2021, its members intended to do good beyond their own hockey community. Faced with so many options for deserving causes, the women decided to look to the work of one of their own members, Toni Hueston. Toni is deeply involved in the Lois Hole Hospital Women’s Society, a group of ambassadors that fosters philanthropy on behalf of the Lois Hole Hospital for Women. Her connection to both groups became an important link–the CAC Women’s Community Society decided to name the Lois Hole Hospital for Women as its ‘charity of choice.’
“When we brought it forward, the Women’s Community Society loved it,” explained Toni.
And it quickly gained the support of the club’s executive. “It really resonated with them. They know moms are the ones driving kids to the hockey rinks and doing a lot of that work. They wanted to acknowledge that and work together on something in the community to raise awareness about the hospital that some didn’t even know was here.”
So, in the 2021-2022 hockey season, the CAC Women’s Community Society and representatives from the club organized several fundraisers throughout the year: a suit sale, a holiday market, and a series of hockey games throughout February. The grand total of their efforts–nearly $13,000–was donated to the Lois Hole Hospital Women’s Society. And, when the time came to determine the charity of choice for year two, the group didn’t hesitate to carry on the work in the name of women’s healthcare. “We’re just getting started,” said Toni. “We want to be known to help. We wanted to make more of an impact with our work as opposed to just one year.”
Over the course of two hockey seasons, the CAC Women’s Community Society has raised more than $22,000 for the Lois Hole Hospital for Women through donations to the Lois Hole Hospital Women’s Society.
Thank you to the CAC Women’s Community Society for your support of the women’s healthcare community and to everyone who donated to the group’s fundraising work.
Tiny Footprints,Tremendous Impact
Losing a baby is a common experience in Canada, yet so few parents talk about it. Grace Struth and Sarah Rivera set out to change that.
Tiny Footprints, Tremendous Impact
Tiny Footprints, Tremendous Impact
The Tiny Footprints Foundation raises money for pregnancy and infant loss support programs. Tiny Footprints was founded in Calgary in 2016 by Kristina Oriold in honour of her daughter, Riley.
Sarah has been involved with Tiny Footprints since its inception. Upon moving to Edmonton, Sarah and Grace teamed up to host the fundraiser in the capital region for the first time in October 2022.
“Considering losing a pregnancy is such a common experience, we found ourselves asking, ‘Why isn’t this talked about more?’ So few women talk about it. We want to change that. We want to foster openness around pregnancy loss so women know there are supports available to them,” they said.
Sarah and Grace decided to support the Perinatal Bereavement Program and the Lois Hole Hospital for Women because it is one of the major pillars for women’s healthcare in northern Canada, but also based on a personal connection.
In 2019, Grace and her partner unexpectedly lost their twins in the emergency room of the Royal Alex. They were paired up with Patti Walker, the Regional Bereavement Coordinator at the Lois Hole Hospital for Women, to help them process the experience.
“Going through the program gave me the words and emotional space to process that grief. In planning our event, we knew we wanted to continue to support the program, so anyone who ends up in a similar situation has access to this resource,” said Grace.
Tiny Footprints YEG will return for a second year in October 2023. Grace and Sarah also operate babyloss.ca and wrote Waiting on Sunrise: Journeying Through Pregnancy and Baby Loss, a free resource for parents grieving the loss of a child before, during, or shortly after birth. You can learn more at tinyfootprintsyeg.ca
Always Inspiring, Never Backing Down
Georgia chooses every day to not let chronic back pain get in the way of her artistic pursuits and the most important pursuit of all—inspiring her daughter and supporting other struggling moms.
Always Inspiring,Never Backing Down
She now makes a variety of stationery—cards for occasions such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and many more—and donates $1 of the proceeds from each card to the Lois Hole Hospital for Women. Operating under the brand “Mindful Brunette,” her cards are currently available at The Fourth, a local boutique market for motherhood-focused goods, with hopes to expand.
As Georgia said, “I wanted to support women and especially women maybe going through a hard time in their life. Injured moms, sick moms, those not able to be with their families…”
She crafts many of these cards lying down with heat packs on her back, her daughter watching her as she frequently changes positions.
She explained, “With babies, you feel like your life has started all over again. You get this superpower when you realize you have to take care of a little one. So, any support I can give to other women like this, is the absolute best money or time ever spent or donated.”
For the record, her daughter Tilly is extremely proud of her. And the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation could not be more inspired by or grateful for Georgia, her husband and daughter, and wish them all the best.
Seeing the Importance of Donating
When unforeseen issues sent Verna and Dennis Huber to the Eye Institute of Alberta, their perspectives changed forever.
Seeing the Importance of Donating
A 2011 vacation became a life-altering trip for Verna and Dennis Huber, one that would forever connect them to the Eye Institute of Alberta.
On that trip, Verna began experiencing vision troubles–everything seemed brighter than it should have. “When I wore sunglasses, I could see a little bit,” she explained. “But when I took off my sunglasses, I couldn’t see.”
Thousands of kilometres away from home, the two felt powerless. “It got kind of scary,” recalled Dennis. “I didn’t know what to do.”
After returning to Edmonton, the path to treatment was quick. The Hubers’ family doctor referred Verna to the Eye Institute of Alberta and, within a day, she met with an entire team of specialists.
“They wanted to do a total scope of what was going on with her eyes,” said Dennis.
Within hours, they had a diagnosis: retinopathy and uveitis. The blood vessels in Verna’s retinas weren’t working properly and she had a serious infection. Immediately, Verna was put on a treatment program, and she also needed to return for regular injections every few weeks for the retinopathy. When her condition worsened years later, she had emergency surgery at the Eye Institute.
While it was alarming initially, she knows she was in great hands. “From the time we got to the hospital, we had great service. They knew what they were doing, they made me feel so comfortable and not scared.”
Verna still requires regular treatments for the retinopathy and that may continue for the rest of her life. Along the way, Dennis also received care at the Eye Institute–having surgery when his cataracts were progressing quickly.
“We want that facility to be there for other people to benefit from. You never know when it’s your turn,” stressed Verna. “It wasn’t until we started using it here 11 years ago that you see how much you can personally benefit from it. That’s why we donate.”
The couple’s experience has reinforced their respect and appreciation for healthcare professionals. “I just can’t believe the quality of doctors that we have in this province,” said Dennis.
They are committed to donating regularly to the Eye Institute of Alberta–their way of caring for their own community just as they were cared for during their times of need.
“We want that facility to be there for other people to benefit from. You never know when it’s your turn,” stressed Verna. “It wasn’t until we started using it here 11 years ago that you see how much you can personally benefit from it. That’s why we donate.”
To make a donation or
for more information, please visit:
