Dr. Robert Bell, President and CEO of University Health Network (UHN), announced today that the Peter and Melanie Munk Charitable Foundation is donating $18 million to the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre at UHN. This new gift brings the total investment by Peter and Melanie Munk in UHN to $65 million.
"Peter and Melanie's new gift builds on their tremendous support over the 18 years they have been involved in creating a world-class cardiac centre," said Dr. Robert Bell. "Their generosity will continue to transform the standard of cardiac care in Canada, North America and around the world. At the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, heart surgeons, vascular surgeons, radiologists and cardiologists all work and train together on an integrated team - something that is setting the standard for the care of heart patients."
The gift will support innovation, recruitment and retention of top cardiac talent by leveraging the incredible patient care and research discoveries already taking place. It will help recruit, retain and train top minds in cardiovascular medicine, surgery and imaging from around the globe.
The gift will also provide training in this new approach to cardiac care which breaks down the traditional barriers amongst the various specialties and creates the environment necessary for collaborative care.
"Given the outstanding success achieved and compassionate care delivered, it didn't take much more than a heart beat for Melanie and me to support the Cardiac Centre again," said Peter Munk. "This facility - and more importantly the excellence and innovation of its caring professionals - has put Canada's cardiac care on the world map."
The Peter and Melanie Munk Charitable Foundation's latest gift also serves to launch a $100-million fundraising campaign at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre called Building the Future - from the heart. A primary focus of the campaign is building and sustaining the Centre's greatest strength - people. This exceptional team of specialists and medical staff is responsible for the emergence of extraordinary medical discoveries and the development of innovative treatments for heart diseases and disorders. More information is available at www.inaheartbeat.ca .
Dr. Barry Rubin, Medical Director of the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, believes the potential for the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre is unlimited.
"This campaign will help the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre to move cardiovascular care in innovative new directions and to deliver the best patient outcomes in the world," says Dr. Rubin. "With the help of our donors, the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre will lead the way in new frontiers of cardiovascular patient care, and will also lead the way in the dissemination of this knowledge worldwide."
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