When we come together as a community, we are at our best. That has been evident these past few months at the QEII Foundation.
Businesses and individuals around us came together to raise funds for vital COVID-19 response efforts.
The QEII Foundation has raised funds to support the patients and staff of the QEII Health Sciences Centre since 1996. Together, we have raised more than $250 million to date to make sure we have the best technology, therapies, and care solutions for our families and friends, here at home.
As the largest adult health sciences centre in Atlantic Canada, the QEII is more than a hospital.
It is a place where amazing things happen – organ transplantation, clinical trials, robotic surgeries, medical education and research with global impact.
And that’s just naming a few. It is a place of pride, grit, and stories worth telling.
The stories to the right highlight advances in health care made possible by donors.
They represent a few examples of community impact at the QEII this past year, as we say thank you for your support and for helping us provide $10.3 million to the QEII.
Rallying for neighbours when they need our support
From t-shirts reminding us to “Stay the blazes home”, to health heroes coffee blends, an 11-year-old fundraiser selling homemade goods, and straight-up donations, our community showed up. Together, you raised vital funds in support of our QEII COVID-19 Response Fund. To our business partners and anyone who donated to the fund, thank you. You brought hope and comfort to patients and staff at the QEII — and showed us that when we come together, powerful things happen.
Individuals across Nova Scotia and beyond raised more than $566,000 for local response efforts to COVID-19. Below are just a few examples of community impact made for COVID-19 patients and care providers.
VITAL EQUIPMENT
Providing accurate and timely test results by funding equipment for Nova Scotia’s only COVID-19 test lab
COMMUNICATION TOOLS
Connecting patients with their families and loved ones through devices such as iPads
VIRTUAL CARE SOLUTIONS
Allowing patients to go home sooner — with equipment such as pulse oximeters to monitor blood oxygen levels from home
RESEARCH COALITION
Fueling medical experts in Atlantic Canada to find innovative ways to respond to COVID-19
Ensuring life-changing cancer care continues
Cancer care never stops, not even for a pandemic. PET-CT offers the most sophisticated cancer imaging available today. Cancer imaging scans continued at the QEII throughout COVID-19. This technology helps medical teams assess the stage and spread of many cancers. It is also used to evaluate a patient’s response to treatment, influencing important decisions for their care.
The first patients were scanned on the QEII’s new PET-CT in April. Because of donors, the QEII has a best-in-class PET-CT, with extended-field-of-view. This technology detects tiny traces of cancer and is faster, allowing teams to scan 25 per cent more patients each day. Thanks to our donors, we are reducing wait times and improving the patient experience.
In the next phase of evolving diagnostic imaging at the QEII, we will help fund brand new interventional radiology suites. Here, diagnosis and intervention intersect — often in the same procedure — bringing life-saving solutions to patients.
Bringing surgical robotics home
One in seven men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime. Because of donors, men in our community now have the option of robotic surgical technology, offering greater precision than the human hand.
This technology allows surgeons to remove tumours, leaving patients with minimal scarring — leading to faster recovery and greater quality of life. This technology is already having an impact for patients living with prostate, kidney and gynecological cancers.
At a time of social distancing — when many non-urgent surgeries were postponed — donor-funded surgical robotics technology enabled teams to continue operating. With just over $400,000 left to raise, we are close to completing this campaign to keep this robot at the QEII.
Riding to reduce cancer treatments from 30 to 1
In 2020, Ride for Cancer powered by BMO Bank of Montreal rose to an epic challenge to raise $1 million. Riders and event supporters brought the QEII one step closer to introducing a new, world-class procedure — a breast seed brachytherapy program. This program will reduce the number of treatments required for some early stage breast cancer patients, from 30 to one, in one tiny dose.
Despite challenges brought on by the pandemic, the event saw record-breaking uptake this year — and surpassed its goal by raising $1.26 million net and counting. On October 3, Riders faced the fight against cancer along the road and trail. While the event looked different than in previous years, the team was committed to delivering a safe and memorable event experience to our Ride community. To learn more, visit yourrideforcancer.ca.
For more stories of community impact in health care, visit annualreport.QE2Foundation.ca.
