Montfort Hospital Foundation launches $10 million fundraising campaign

Monies raised will go to support a dozen different departments

It’s an investment in health care to last generations. That’s the message from the Montfort Hospital Foundation as it embarks on an ambitious fundraising initiative this fall. 

The Montreal Road health facility kicked off its $10 million campaign on Oct. 14 at the nearby Porsche dealership. To date, a total of $5.5 million has been raised. That includes $1,117,000 in donations that evening. 

With the public announcement last month, the foundation invites area residents to join what it terms “a shared vision,” one that allows the hospital to take advantage of the latest technological advances and equipment. 

“To continue offering Montfort patients the best possible care and providing our teams with the tools they need to excel, we must invest now in state-of-the-art equipment,” notes Lise Parent, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Montfort Foundation. “This campaign is a concrete investment in the health of our community, today and for generations to come.”  

The money raised through the campaign will assist in upgrading equipment in a dozen hospital departments. 

Valérie Dubois-Desroches, Senior Vice-President, Patient Care, has been with Montfort for 24 years. She knows just how important it is for the hospital to maintain up-to-date equipment and services. And that’s where this campaign comes in. 

“It’s helping us by covering the cost of specialized equipment in very different sectors that are used, either by physicians, by specialists or by team members. But it is 100 per cent for patient care,” she told the Chronicle in a recent interview. 

Caring for community

“The equipment we’re looking to raise money for is for all sectors. It could be the Emergency Department as well as the Imaging department, surgery.”

A growing focus is the Montfort Birthing Centre, “another big entry point,” according to Dubois-Desroches. “A lot of babies are born here (including her own three children), we’re going to reach 3,500 babies this year.”

Beyond the actual day of birth, the more than 3,000 families access the hospital multiple times leading up to the big day. “I mean, there’s a lot of clinic appointments, ultrasound and imaging and blood tests that are done throughout.”

Laurence de Montigny St-Onge gave birth to both of her children at Montfort. Speaking Oct. 8 at a ceremony in honour of her grandmother Marlene Munroe de Montigny (see separate story), she said she could not have asked for better care. 

Her son was born in December, 2020, at the height of the pandemic. 

“It was an uncertain time to be having a baby. But here, I felt completely at ease. The team created a little bubble around us, as if we were sheltered from everything going on outside these walls. I’ll never forget that,” she said. “… I’ve recommended Montfort to anyone who will listen: pregnant friends, coworkers, friends of friends. I’m a bit of an unofficial ambassador.

Campaign benefits

Orthopaedics will also benefit from campaign funds. 

“There are lots of procedures being done here at Montfort,” Dubois-Desroches says. “For example, knee replacement, hip replacement or other types of joint surgeries. We see them (patients) in advance when they need consultations, sometimes when they need physiotherapy and surgery. This is another big program of ours.” 

She notes this area of health care has evolved over the years. “For joint replacement, you used to be admitted in to hospital for multiple days when I first started. Now, you actually go home on the same day.”

Another area of focus is ophthalmology. 

“With the aging and growing population, eye surgery and cataract surgery is definitely a need. It does have a very big impact on quality of life, if you get the procedure you need right,” Dubois-Desroches says. 

According to information provided by the foundation, funds raised will also be used to:

• completely modernize diagnostic imaging in the radiography room, 

• provide the latest in technology for dialysis patients, 

• build three negative pressure isolation rooms, 

• the purchase of 40 new medical beds (including one bariatric bed), 

• invest in an advanced imaging system for the Urology department,

• modernize the nurse-call system,

• create and fund a research chair in mental health and AI,

• purchase a wide variety of specialized equipment.

“We’re definitely looking to offer excellent care to all and I think the specialized equipment like this enables us to be able to offer the best care possible,” Dubois-Desroches says.

Halfway there

With the campaign having reached more than half its goal to date, the push is on to raise the remaining $4.5 million.

Josée Turcotte of the Montfort Foundation says anyone can contribute to the campaign by visiting its website: www.foundationmontfort.ca or by calling the foundation’s office at 613-748-4920. 

“With this campaign we talk about the generations because for us it’s important,” Turcotte explains. “As Valerie mentioned, lots of babies are born at Montfort, so we want to make a bridge between the generations.  Yes, we have older patients but it’s important to say you can start your life at Montfort as well. We advance care at Montfort for the new generations, we’re thinking about the future.”