Sunday, 05. February 2012

The Mental Health In-Patient Unit at the Royal Alexandra Hospital can now enjoy the tune of a brand new piano. The donated piano was made possible by the OPUS U3 5K Fun Run/Walk that took place on September 24th, 2011 at Hawrelak Park.  All proceeds from the event were used to purchase the new piano for the Mental Health In-Patient Unit.  John Giovanni and Ray Lonsdale from Giovanni Music, along with OPUS US organizer Graeme Arkless present staff with a new piano.

Back: Ray Lonsdale, Giovanni Music, Jeff Buhr, Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation, Graeme Arkless OPUS U3 Organizer, Arthur Warman Running Room

Front: Kimberley Philpott, Unit Manager PCU 62, John Giovanni,Giovanni Music

Sunday, 05. February 2012

The Honourable Anne McLellan has been named the new chair of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation Board of Directors. McLellan has been with the Foundation's Board of Directors since June 2006.

 Edmonton, AB- The Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of former federal health minister and deputy prime minister Honourable Anne McLellan as the new chair of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation Board of Directors.

"I am honoured to be named chair of the Board of Directors," says McLellan "The Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation builds passionate community support for one of our city's largest teaching and research hospitals, the Royal Alexandra Hospital."

The Honourable Anne McLellan served on the Foundation's Board of Directors since June 2006, and during her time was a member of the Community Outreach Committee for the Lois Hole Hospital for Women and Chair of the CK Hui Heart Centre Campaign.

McLellan will serve two years as board chair, and then another year as vice chair.

McLellan began her political career as a Liberal candidate in the 1992 federal election. She became one of only four Liberals elected in Alberta and was named to Jean Chrétien's first Cabinet as Minister of Natural Resources. She was re-elected for three terms, serving as Minister of Justice from 1997 to 2002, Minister of Health from 2002 to 2003 and Minister of the newly created Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness department from 2003 to 2006. From December 2003 to January 2006, Anne also served as Deputy Prime Minister, one of only two women to hold this position.

Most recently, The Hon. Anne McLellan was presented with the Order of Canada in recognition of her leadership as a politician and law professor, and for her contributions as a community volunteer.

The Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation's Board of Directors are community volunteers committed to delivering advice, direction and counsel in all fundraising efforts. These leaders act as advocates for the Royal Alexandra Hospital and help raise community awareness of priority needs, new research and advancements in patient care. The Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation, established in 1984, builds passionate community support for the Royal Alexandra Hospital and its centres of excellence, including the Lois Hole Hospital for Women, CK Hui Heart Centre, Orthopedic Surgery Centre, Regional Eye Centre, and Centre for the Advancement of Minimally Invasive Surgery among others.

-30-

Sunday, 05. February 2012

The Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation officially opened the Ted and Lois Hole Healing Garden. This special garden is the newest addition to the Robbins Pavilion at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

The Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation opened the Ted and Lois Hole Healing Garden today. This much anticipated roof-top garden named in honour of Ted and Lois Hole is in full bloom and will be the newest addition to the Robbins Pavilion, located at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. The garden will offer a serene area of respite for all those who come to visit.

“The staff at the Royal Alexandra Hospital are absolutely delighted by this new addition,” says Joanna Pawlyshyn, Vice President of the Royal Alexandra Hospital. “We’ve been watching the garden come to life over the past few months and are thrilled to see it open—what a special place for everyone to enjoy!”

Named in honour of our former lieutenant governor Lois Hole and her husband, Ted Hole, the garden will provide a peaceful place for staff, patients and visitors to relax and reflect while enjoying the beautiful flowers and trees.  The Healing Garden has been made possible by many generous donors, including staff from the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

“The Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation is so grateful to donors who have helped make this garden possible,” says Sharlene Rutherford, Vice President of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation. “It is through community support that we are able to fund these extra special features and the Ted and Lois Hole Healing Garden is a stunning example of this—what a wonderful new addition.”

This stunning garden, located on the roof of the second floor of the Robbins Pavilion, will further the goal of creating a beautiful and inspirational facility that recognizes a holistic approach to care—encompassing mind, body and spirit.  Ted and Lois Hole, well-known for their love of gardening and the successful business they built as a result, were supporters of the idea of a rooftop garden from the early stages of hospital planning.

“If my mom and dad were here today they would be so happy to see what has been created,” says Jim Hole. “My parents knew the wonderful benefits of time spent outdoors and they would be inspired to know that patients, staff and visitors here at the Royal Alexandra Hospital will be able to enjoy this beautiful garden.”

The Hole family has had a long-standing relationship with the Royal Alexandra Hospital over the years.

“My mom used to host brown bag lunches here at the hospital, and she would teach people about gardening,” says Jim. “I bet if mom were still here today she would have loved to have those classes in the Healing Garden.”

The Ted and Lois Hole Healing Garden contains a wide variety of flowers, trees and ornamental grasses as well as stained glass artwork and water features.  Two very special pieces of artwork are also found in the garden. Created by local artist Barbara Paterson, the Ted and Lois Hole Busts are a sentimental and stunning feature located in the Healing Garden. 

Sunday, 05. February 2012

From left to right: Alberta Cancer Campaign Co-Chair Frank Sojonky, University Hospital Foundation Board Trustee Irv Kipnes, the Honourable Gene Zwozdesky, Minister of Health and Wellness, Government of Alberta, Prostate Cancer Canada president Steve Jones, Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation Director John Day and Former Alberta Cancer Foundation Chair & Trustee Bob Bentley receive a cheque for $1 million from Prostate Cancer Canada for Edmonton's Prostate Health Clinic.

An early morning breakfast in Edmonton was a wake up call and a celebration.

The Wake Up Call breakfast, hosted by Prostate Cancer Canada, is a regular event held at locations across Canada to increase awareness of prostate cancer and give a “wake up call” to men to get educated about this prevalent disease. With one in six men destined to be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetimes, it is a disease that means not “if” but “when” it will affect someone they know, or even themselves.

This year’s Wake Up Call breakfast at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald in Edmonton included the announcement of an incredible $1-million donation to Edmonton’s own Campaign for Prostate Health.

The Campaign for Prostate Health is a joint effort between the Alberta Cancer Foundation, the University Hospital Foundation and the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation. The campaign’s goal is to raise $30-million to help improve prostate care for patients in the Edmonton and northern Alberta region through improved technology, research and innovation. The campaign funds will also help to develop a consolidated urology centre including a Prostate Health Clinic at the Edmonton Clinic South, currently under construction southwest of the University of Alberta Hospital.

The 45,000-square-foot urology centre in the Edmonton Clinic will house 15 urologists and offer a one-stop location for men where they can see a healthcare team within weeks of diagnosis instead of having to wait several months after their family doctor refers them for testing. Currently, the wait can be up to eight months or more to go from testing to treatment, a period of time that can seem like an eternity to a cancer patient. With the new Rapid Access Prostate Health Clinic, patients will promptly meet a team of specialists to figure out chemotherapy, radiation or surgical options and take the first steps on the road to treatment and recovery.

Frank Sojonky, a member of the Campaign for Prostate Health leadership team, has been a tireless crusader for prostate cancer. 22 years after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, which has since spread to his bones, Sojonky is finally seeing awareness of his disease grow, through popular fundraising initiatives such as Movember and the Underwear Affair Run.

Speaking about the Rapid Access Prostate Health Clinic, Frank was clearly emotional at getting closer to the goal. "It's my dream. It's what we all worked for," said Frank, who jumped into the fundraising campaign several years ago and with a group of friends raised $2.5 million for a $5-million endowment chair for prostate research that will take Sojonky's name.

Finding a cure for prostate cancer is important, but so is raising awareness and educating men about the disease as well as looking after men who have been diagnosed. "When I first had prostate cancer, nobody knew but my wife and my son,” explains Frank. “I never told anyone for 10 to 12 years." Now, Frank bravely speaks to rooms filled with hundreds of people and mentors more than a dozen men with prostate cancer, even though his own health has been declining.

Steve Jones, president and CEO of Prostate Cancer Canada, was on hand at the Wake Up Call breakfast to officially present the $1 million donation. Like Frank, he is enthusiastic about the Rapid Access Prostate Health Clinic. "Once someone has been diagnosed, it's a very scary road, and the more support they have, the better,” said Jones. “The kinds of programs the clinic is putting in help men not only physically, but help them mentally deal with what they've got to go through.”

“Events like the Wake Up Call breakfast are important,” says John Day, a director at the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation and a leading volunteer for the Campaign for Prostate Health. “Prostate Cancer Canada is doing an amazing job raising awareness and funds across the country and it’s important for men in Edmonton as to see that the money they have helped to raise is able to directly benefit their community, as well as to be made aware of the importance of prostate health.”

Frank and Irv Kipnes, co-chairman of the Campaign for Prostate Health, have seen awareness of prostate cancer take off in the last five years. It can often be an uphill battle to make men aware of prostate cancer and speak freely about a disease that can often include unpleasant side effects and additional health worries.

"Men were very reluctant to speak about prostate cancer for a very long time," said Kipnes, whose own battle with the disease made him a determined spokesman for the Campaign for Prostate Health. One of Canada’s most distinguished fundraisers, Kipnes has helped spearhead a very successful fundraising campaign that has raised more than $24 million out of the $30-million goal for the clinic, research and surgical initiatives.

The Edmonton Clinic South is expected to be complete in 2012, with the Rapid Access Prostate Health Clinic opening in 2013.

For more information about the Campaign for Prostate Health, please contact Jeff Buhr, Development Officer, at 780-735-5804.

Sunday, 05. February 2012

Debby Carlson, Chair of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation Board of Directors, highlighted the importance of collaboration in the evolution of patient care excellence at the Royal Alexandra Hospital during our recent Chair's Dinner, held October 5 at the Westin Hotel, Edmonton.

Ladies and Gentlemen…Our theme this evening is Progress Through Partnerships.

Partnerships are powerful.

In the non-profit sector – and within healthcare in particular – partnering is the most effective way to leverage resources, reach out to communities and re-vigor  fundraising campaigns.

By effective partnering, the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation is able to play a large and robust role in the evolution of excellence in patient care.

No where has this been more evident than in the opening of the Lois Hole Hospital for Women in the spring.  Working closely with the Alberta Government and Alberta Health Services, we celebrated several key achievements:

First: Alberta Health Services’ improving access and excellence in care for women in Edmonton, northern Alberta and Canada’s Northern Territories;

Second: The enhancements brought to the hospital by Donors to our Foundation’s capital campaign which raised more than $20 million dollars;

And third: We honoured the memory of our former lieutenant governor, the Hon. Lois Hole, and her legacy of hope and caring.

As our Foundation continues to develop new campaigns that further enhance the Royal Alexandra Hospital, we recognize Alberta Health and Wellness Minister, the Honourable Gene Zwozdesky, Alberta Health Services Chair Mr. Ken Hughes and Vice President of the Royal Alexandra Hospital Ms. Joanna Pawlyshyn, for being excellent partners.

Our partnerships are not only with government.

We also enjoy wonderful partnerships with our peers in the not-for-profit sector.

And we believe it is these partnerships that mark the difference between achieving incrementally and exponentially.

These partnerships bring creative people and their good ideas together.

Prostate Health
A perfect example of this is our collaboration with the Alberta Cancer Foundation and the University Hospital Foundation in the fight against prostate cancer, a disease that affects one in every seven men.

Together, we have raised (so far – the campaign is not over), more than $23 million in a $26 million dollar effort.

With leaders like Frank Sojonky, Irv Kipnes, CJ Wood, and our board members John Day and Ron Hodgson, we know that a rapid access clinic will be built in our city, offering treatment to the thousands of men diagnosed with prostate cancer every year.

Regional Eye Centre
Many of you know that the Royal Alexandra Hospital is home to the Regional Eye Centre.

Our Foundation has been a funding partner with Lions Clubs International in support of the Regional Eye Centre, a teaching and research centre for the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Alberta.

We’d like to thank Dr. Patti Hill from Lions Clubs International for this outstanding partnership which, over the years, has resulted in donors raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for medical research and the development of new surgical treatments for diseases of the eye.

Women’s and Children’s Health Research Institute
Ladies and Gentlemen, they say the health of a community can be determined by the health of its women and children.

The Women’s and Children’s Health Research Institute, led by Dr. Po-yin Cheung, is a multidisciplinary team made up of 300 leading researchers, clinician scientists, healthcare professionals and academics whose mission is to improve health outcomes for women and their babies in our city, our province, and our country.

Our Foundation has worked closely with the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation to develop a funding partnership that supports the work of the institute.

Thank you to Dallas Smith, former Chair of the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation, for helping to forge a strong relationship in support of women’s and children’s health.

Ovarian Cancer Research Chairs
Earlier, I mentioned the Alberta Cancer Foundation and our collaboration on the prostate health campaign.

Our partnership with the Alberta Cancer Foundation, represented here by Bob Bentley, also includes the creation of a new $5 million chair in ovarian cancer research.

Our two Foundations are working closely with the Dean from the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Dr. Philip Baker, in the recruitment of this research chair.

Ovarian cancer is a silent and deadly opponent. Far too often, it is victorious and another mom, sister, or daughter is lost.

We look forward to giving all of you a more formal announcement about our collaborative effort, very soon.

Full House Lottery
Our partnership with the University Hospital Foundation is one that goes beyond the collaborative effort of any single campaign.

By working together, the University Hospital Foundation and our Foundation have built one of the largest home lotteries in the province. Full House Lottery has raised more than $45 million dollars in the past 17 years. Virtually every area of care at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and the University of Alberta Hospital has benefited from this partnership.

Multicultural Heart Health
One of our newest partnerships is one that promotes heart health.

Together with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, our Foundation and cardiologists at the CK Hui Heart Centre have launched the Multicultural Heart Health Awareness Program, an outreach program aimed at educating diverse populations about the signs, symptoms and prevention of cardiovascular disease.

We’d like to thank Tony Connelly, a director with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, for being an excellent partner, and Dr. PoKee Cheung, one of our leaders in cardiology at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, for working tirelessly with our two Foundations in the development and rollout to our first multicultural population, the Chinese Community of Edmonton.

Dr. Cheung will tell you that when a cardiologist treats heart disease, he is helping one patient at a time. But when, as partners and collaborators, we promote heart health, awareness, and lifestyle, we help the whole community.

Knowledge, like a good partnership, is a powerful tool.

Alberta Bone and Joint Insitute
Our most recent partnership, which Andrew mentioned earlier, is a province-wide first for our Foundation.

This latest collaboration, with the Alberta Bone & Joint Institute, demonstrates how our Foundation’s role continues to evolve and is a powerful indicator of where we are going as an organization.

A special welcome to the Chair of the Alberta Bone and Joint Institute, Ian Robinson, who is here with us tonight from Calgary.

Working together, we are building upon the first, integrated, province-wide network for bone and joint care -- the gold standard of provincial-wide care for all Albertans that is accessible and resource-efficient for the long-term in our publicly funded system.

And I am very pleased to represent the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation on the Bone and Joint Institute…. joining Ian, as well as Calgary’s Dr. Cy Frank, Executive Director on the Institute’s Board of Directors, and our own Dr. Don Dick, who is vice Chair of the Board of Directors.

More than three million Canadians endure chronic bone and joint pain.

Bone and joint health problems are not restricted to any one segment of the population. Those afflicted can range from children who fall off their bikes, to young adults with lingering sports injuries, to older adults battling debilitating bone and joint conditions.

We’re very proud of this new partnership, and we hope our community of donors will also support our role within this consortium of scientists, orthopedic surgeons, rheumatologists, kinesiologists, and biomedical engineers who bring diverse technologies and perspectives together for all Albertans.

Ladies and gentlemen, we’re immensely proud of our partners, and we hope they are proud of us too.

These partnerships are easy to maintain. After all, we have similar goals and share the same ideals. We want to make things better. We want to improve health care for Albertans.

And, at the end of the day, partnerships are also friendships.

So, to close, on behalf of our board of directors, I salute you: Our friends and our partners – province wide and right here in our city.

I salute our partnerships. And I salute the progress that our partnerships will continue to bring.

Thank you.