Inspirational Gift - Elson and Joyce Miles

Retired farmers Elson and Joyce Miles have a long history of giving back to the community and this past year was no exception.

Recently, they supported York Central Hospital Foundation in a financially savvy way by donating shares to fund priority equipment projects. By transferring their shares intact, they helped to purchase life-saving medical equipment and avoided paying capital gain tax.

“Having lived in York Region our entire lives and seen the dramatic changes that have taken place, we understand how important community support is for our hospital,” they said. “It gives us great pleasure knowing we are playing a part in York Central’s efforts to improve health care for the people in our community.” 

Their gift helped to fund three priority projects: Minimally Invasive Surgery, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the Patient Pump Project.

Last night, Elson and Joyce were honoured in a donor recognition ceremony at York Central Hospital. More than 20 past and present Board members, spouses, volunteers, hospital and Foundation staff and family members attended the momentous event. There were many laughs, memories and stories shared about the couple’s long history with the Foundation as well as their involvement in the community.

Speakers included York Central Hospital President & CEO, along with three physicians who spoke about each priority project and the impact of Elson and Joyce’s gift. Stan Neal, a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors and the colleague who recruited Elson to the Foundation more than 20 years ago, spoke of their history, dedication and vision along with a few personal stories. Dr. Nicholas Voudouris, Chair of the Board of Directors, ended the speeches by thanking the couple and presenting them with a card.

The rest of the event was filled with reminiscing, a lot of laughter and photos.

In addition to being generous donors, Elson and Joyce have been involved in the Foundation for more than 20 years. Elson has served as a Board Member and held a number of executive positions including Chair of the Board. He also played a pivotal role in the $35 million Share The Spirit of Care campaign by chairing the Steering Committee.

Their involvement in the community is equally impressive. Elson was a member and past president of the Markham Pizza Project, a school-based agricultural program. He was also president of the Unionville Home Society and served the Town of Markham as a councillor. Joyce has been involved with church choirs since she was a teenager and led her own choir “Cache Chorale” for 18 years, retiring in 2010. Today, she helps out by playing the organ for occasional weddings and funerals at the Presbyterian Church in old Markham.

Thank you Elson and Joyce for your continued support and commitment to health care in Southwest York Region! The world is truly a better place with community-minded volunteers like both of you.

President's Corner - Honouring our incredible volunteers

This week marks one of the most important weeks of the year for our Foundation: National Volunteer Appreciation Week.

Our organization relies on the dedication, support and commitment of our volunteers in nearly every area of our daily work. From our Board of Directors to event committees to in-office support, our volunteers work tirelessly to help us become closer to realizing York Central Hospital’s vision of becoming the finest community hospital in Canada.

I feel that we’re blessed to have more than 120 volunteers on our committees, Board of Directors and in our office.

Their leadership, accountability and participation helped us exceed our fundraising goal last year. They’re ensured our events are as successful as possible. They assist us in the office with day-to-day activities. They provide a second, third and fourth opinion and they’ve opened the doors to many new prospects, donors and opportunities.

In addition to the many volunteers in our Foundation, we are incredibly grateful for the more than 900 volunteers at York Central Hospital. These men, women, students and community members play a pivotal role in both the Foundation and the Hospital. The Volunteer Association of York Central Hospital has donated more than $4.4 million to the Foundation towards funding priority projects and generously provide more than 85,000 hours of service each year to the hospital. Thank you to each one of the volunteers for their incredible commitment, service and support.

Our volunteers are fueled by the kindness of their own hearts and have personally taken it upon themselves to work towards making York Central Hospital a better place for our patients, staff and community. While this is the one week in the year that highlights their hard work, we are grateful for our volunteers each and every day. The Hospital and Foundation would truly not be the same without them.

On behalf of the entire York Central Hospital Foundation team, a sincere, heartfelt thank you to our incredible volunteers for everything they have done in the past and continue to do as we move forward!

Sincerely yours,

Bill Leacy

President & CEO

President's Corner - Happy New (Fiscal) Year!

Today marks the first day of a new month and the first day of our next fiscal year.

This past year has been a tremendous success: we welcomed a new President & CEO to our hospital, York Central Hospital’s Board of Trustees appointed a new chair and vice-chair and we opened the region’s most advanced Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

And, we exceeded our fundraising goal for the year thanks to the incredible support from donors like you! Through your generosity, we were able to fund more than $1 million in medical equipment and technology, a newly renovated and expanded NICU and a second Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) Suite. This means York Central’s team of dedicated medical professionals will have the equipment and facilities they require to continue delivering expert and compassionate care to you, the patients.

Although we’re only a few hours into our new fiscal year, I can’t help but get excited about our projects and goals this year. The development of a two-site health care system is moving forward which means we’re one step closer to being able to provide expanded health care services to residents in Southwest York Region and beyond. We’ve have a new list of priority projects to fund this year, including renovating six paediatric rooms and outfitting them with new equipment.

We’re also raising funds to standardize intravenous pumps throughout the hospital.

Currently, the hospital uses eight different infusion pump systems that do not have built-in safety features. The pump selected by the Hospital is the Symbiq Infusion System – one with a near perfect safety rating.

This pump system increases safety for patients by auto-programming medications, preventing human errors.  They are electronically manufactured to detect potential errors, averting mistakes while tracking “near misses” for future improvement.  In addition, since the pumps are programmed to dispense the appropriate dosages, nurses and other staff members have more time to spend with patients, improving the overall quality of care.

Finally, we’ve welcomed a new Director of Major Gifts to our team, Luci Anderson. Luci has leadership experience in both the profit and non-profit sectors, including her most recent employer, Providence Healthcare Foundation, where she was the Director of Major Gifts & Campaigns.

With new leadership and several exciting projects under way to improve care for the people in our community, I’m hopeful, through your support, this year will be our best to date!

Wishing you the best of health,

Bill Leacy

President & CEO

President's Corner - Zack's Dream Room

It’s amazing what a community can accomplish when they work together.

Two weeks ago, we found out about a young boy named Zack Hamilton. Zack was born in 2007 with several medical conditions including a congenital heart defect, fluid on his brain, hearing loss and global developmental delay. Most uniquely, geneticists discovered Zack had a deletion of the 12^th chromosome – the only recorded case in the world.

Unfortunately, Zack passed away on March 10, 2011 at the age of three-and-a-half. Staff at York Central Hospital, who had become quite fond of Zack during his stays over his short life, put forth the idea of creating an Elmo-themed room in honour of their “frequent flyer”. Zack’s Dream Room was born.

Foundation staff worked with Zack’s mom, Heather, to create a website to raise the required $25,000 to make the room a reality and to raise awareness of this great cause.

The site has been live for less than two weeks and in that time, more than $10,000 has been raised from individuals and businesses alike. Several events within the community have been planned and more and more businesses have stepped forward, offering to donate proceeds from their services and products to Zack’s Dream Room. The outpouring of support has been outstanding!

Having been in fundraising for more than 20 years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with a number of families who seek to fundraise in honour of a loved one who has passed away. Their strength never ceases to amaze me, and the Hamiltons are no exception.

This particular case is especially unique as the project was started by staff. Not only does this showcase the incredible impact Zack and the Hamiltons have had on the YCH family, it also represents the character of our staff. Their dedication to their workplace and most importantly the patients is truly remarkable.

Donations to support Zack’s Dream Room can be made online or by calling the Foundation office at 905-883-2032.

Thank you to everyone who has showed their support for this special project. Through your generosity, we’re one step closer to creating an incredible tribute for this memorable little boy.  

Wishing you the best of health,

Bill Leacy

President & CEO

Job Posting - Development Assistant

Job Title: Development Assistant
Department: Foundation
Reports to: Manager, Special Events
Job Classification: Full-time Position
Start Date: April, 2011

York Central Hospital Foundation’s Mission: We inspire inspirational gifts.

York Central Hospital Foundation was established in 1977 to raise funds for equipment and capital improvements that will positively impact patient care at York Central Hospital. Although operating costs are largely funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care, a significant portion of the money required for state-of-the-art equipment, technology and facility renewal is raised in our community through generous donors.

York Central Hospital’s Mission: We reach out – with expert and
compassionate care.

For more than 46 years, York Central has been a provider of increasingly progressive and innovative health care services to our community. As the health care system changes to better meet the needs of those it serves, York Central Hospital will continue to be there. York Central Hospital will be there to lead change in the way that many health care service providers work with each other; to lead change in its unique and comprehensive range of services; and to lead change in providing more services “closer to home.”

The Position: Development Assistant
This position will provide support for all special events and gift administration. This position will also provide support to the Development Team as needed, including preparing correspondence, assisting in maintaining accurate donor records and preparing promotional materials for meetings and events.

Specific Responsibilities:

• Support Special Events Manager and Special Events Coordinator, volunteers, and others on signature and community events
• Assist Gift Administrator, including entering donations into Raiser’s Edge database and taking deposits to the bank
• Enter all in-kind donations into the Raiser’s Edge database
• Represent Foundation at all community events/third party events
• Provide support for committees as needed, including preparing meeting packages, attending meetings, taking notes and circulating minutes to all committee members as required
• Assist with all event mailings including personalization of letters and sponsorship packages, special thank you letters and all other required materials
• Assist Special Events Coordinator with cataloguing of auction/raffle items for all events
• Provide relief reception duties as needed
• Such further and other duties as needed

Education and Qualifications Required:

• University Degree/College Diploma with a minimum of two years related experience in a professional environment.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office
• Knowledge of Raiser’s Edge an asset
• Possess the ability to plan, organize and prioritize work, while handling multiple tasks and interruptions with poise and patience
• Display effective writing skills, especially in the area of correspondence and report writing
• Demonstrate the ability to work both collaboratively within a team and independently with minimal supervision
• Strong interpersonal and public relations skills
• The ability to handle sensitive and confidential information appropriately and with discretion

Please forward CV’s to Margo Sage-Arnold, Manager, Special Events at foundation@yorkcentral.on.ca

* Please reference the job title “Development Assistant” in the subject line of your e-mail

We thank you for your interest, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Inspirational Project - Zack Hamilton

On March 10, 2011, the world lost a very inspirational little boy, Zack Hamilton.

Zack was born in September 2007 with a congenital heart defect known as Total Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Drainage (TAPVD). At two and a half weeks old, Zack underwent a procedure to repair his heart. Zack’s survival at that time, was the first of many miracles in his life.

Zack also had several other anomalies, including hearing loss, global developmental delay, feeding issues, a gastrostomy tube (G-Tube), seizures, and fluid in the brain. Though he had no official overall diagnosis, the genetics team discovered Zack had a deletion of the 12th chromosome. This deletion is the first recorded case in the world, making Zack a very special and unique little guy.

Although just 3 years old, Zack touched many more people that he ever could have realized. Life is best measured by impact and not duration. In that way, Zack lived a life of incredible importance.

To honour this amazing little boy, we are raising funds to dedicate a room to Zack at York Central Hospital decorated with his favourite character – Elmo.

You can help us make Zack’s Dream Room a reality by making an online donation now. Your tax-deductible gift will help ensure Zack’s memory continues to live on.

You can find out updates on this project through our Facebook account, Twitter page, and through Zack’s Dream Room Website. Information can also be found by visiting his mom, Heather's blog and Zack's Dream Twitter page.

For more information about the project, please contact:

Tammy Bucci
Major Gifts Officer
Tel: 905-883-1212 x7805
E-mail: tbucci@yorkcentral.on.ca

Alyshia Higgins
Stewardship and Communications Coordinator
Tel: 905-883-1212 x7810
E-mail: ahiggins@yorkcentral.on.ca  

Thank you for your support. Together, we are helping to honour this remarkable young boy in a truly special way.

Sincerely yours,

Alyshia

Stewardship & Communications Coordinator

Lace Up For A Great Cause!

It’s that time of year again – pull out your running shoes and jogging gear and get ready to walk or run for a great cause!

Join York Central Hospital Foundation as we take strides in support of the District Stroke Centre, here in York Region on May 7 at Richmond Green Park in Richmond Hill. Sign up for the 5K Run/Walk or participate in the 1K Children's Scamper for those 12 and under.

Since 2006, this annual event has raised over $345,000, helping to fund state-of-the art medical equipment for York Central Hospital. Last year, more than 750 participants raised $116,000. This year our goal is to raise at least $75,000 and proceeds will be directed to the York Region District Stroke Centre located within the hospital.

As the District Stroke Centre for York Region, York Central has a leadership role in ensuring that stroke patients have rapid access to diagnosis and treatment, appropriate rehabilitation, and long-term care services.

Your support of the Richview Manor Strides for Stroke 5K Run/Walk will directly contribute to funding an annual District Stroke Bursary to offer high quality education opportunities to York Central Hospital staff in order to provide them with continuous, up-to-date knowledge on best practices to treat stroke patients. Proceeds from the event will also help fund equipment to support staff in delivering acute stroke treatment.

Take of advantage of the early bird registration fee by registering today at www.yorkcentralrun.com. Hurry – fees go up April 1, 2011.

Join today as an individual, or encourage your office and family members to participate and register as a team. Friendly competition is welcomed and encouraged, especially for such a great cause!

If you have any questions about the run, please email Jaimie Shen.

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to seeing you all on Saturday, May 7.

Sincerely yours,

Alyshia

Stewardship & Communications Coordinator