Your Impact

Long-time St. Joseph’s physician Dr. Mohan Merchea is helping ophthalmology residents find their passion. Dr. Gaya Sivakumar and her husband Rikin packed up their one-year-old daughter and boarded a flight to India for a learning experience that would change the ophthalmology resident’s life and...

Five years ago, donors helped Dr. Swati Mehta launch a unique mental health study for people with physical disabilities, not knowing how many lives it would change. Today, hundreds of people are thriving in mind, body and spirit after participating in Dr. Mehta’s internet-based Cognitive Behavioural...

Londyn can’t wait to see the stars. At 10 years of age, she has lived with cataracts her entire life The congenital eye disorder severely clouds her vision, making it impossible for her to see clearly. In a few weeks, she will have her second surgery – and it all will change. “When her eyes heal...

Donors funded St. Joseph’s first da Vinci robot in 2005. Nearly 20 years later, they’re doing it again. In 2008, St. Joseph’s urologist Dr. Stephen Pautler was invited to mentor a Toronto surgeon completing his first robotic surgery. During the media scrum that followed, a reporter asked Dr. Pautler...

Down-to-earth, quietly generous, and community minded are just a few of the words that come to mind when you think about Beverly and the late James (Jim) Thompson and their family. Along with the generations of the family that came before them, they have been enriching communities across Ontario for...

For 17 years, Anne Toal and Paul Brisson have been supporting the purchase of modest items that deliver an immediate impact on patient care. Anne Toal was a newly-minted Parkwood Foundation Board member in 1992 when a funding request arrived: staff had identified a research project to enhance the...

This June, St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation hosted its annual Hall of Heroes celebration, an event highlighting the unwavering support of the community and the inspiring spirit of Canada’s Veterans. The Veterans Care Program at Parkwood Institute is home to nearly 100 Veterans and service men and...

Ryan Finch is deeply committed to making transformational change to mental health care. His drive to stand up for mental health is fueled by personal experiences and what he sees happening in the community - and he’s in it for the long term. In June 2023, he took his decade-long support of mental...

Ask the farming Heeman family about their giving philosophy and the response is fittingly down to earth – both literally and figuratively. “The community is a lot like a plant – if you nurture it, invest in it and care for it, it will thrive and prosper,” says Will Heeman. Sitting around the table...