Sudbury hospital receives historic donation

Monday in Sudbury, Health Sciences North received the single largest donation ever to a northern Ontario hospital.

The Fielding/Perdue family announced it was donating $10 million to the Northern Cancer Foundation for its capital redevelopment.

"Dominic and Anthony did come to us and asked us for help because they want to make sure this care will happen in the future," said Cameron Perdue.

"We have therefore decided as a family to make a special gift to the Northern Cancer Foundation to be used for phase 1 for the capital redevelopment," said Craig Fielding.

The announcement was met with a standing ovation in a room full of hospital executives from across the region.

"We know this is what my mother Shirley, my father Jim and my sister Norrine would have wanted," Fielding said.

"With this donation today, we are hoping that others will come forward to support much-needed expansion to our hospital."

As a part of the historic gift, the hospital announced its cancer centre would be renamed the Shirley and Jim Fielding Northeast Cancer Centre.

The name Fielding/Perdue is no stranger to many in Sudbury. In many circles, it has been synonymous with Sudbury philanthropy.

"Our province is growing and northern Ontario is what needs to grow the most and unfortunately we don't see a lot of growth," said Perdue, who is Jim and Shirley Fielding's grandson.

"We want to look back on the care that my great-grandfather received, my grandparents received and my mother received here at the hospital. We want to make sure that care continues into the future."

Health Sciences North said it is just beginning its redevelopment plan, a five-stage process it must complete with the Ministry of Health.

HSN President and CEO Dominic Giroux said even still, Monday was a good day.

"It was very moving for us to have the Fielding/Perdue family announce their historic gift (and) to see most of my colleagues from northeastern Ontario hospitals be here as part of the celebration," said Giroux.

"We are at stage 1 of a five-stage capital planning and approval process. We are working closely with the Ministry of Health, with the support from Ontario Health to get to stage 2 planning approval and then every stage, there is obviously more refinement being done to the plans."

The previous record gift to a northern Ontario hospital was a $5-million donation from Marcel and Frances Labelle of Cochrane, which led to the 28,000-square-foot Labelle Innovation and Learning Centre.

Anthony Keating, president of the HSN Foundation, said with the $10-million donation and the $9-million raised through 50/50 ticket sales, they're currently sitting at $19 million.

"So the Fielding and Perdue family have been pillars in the community for so many years," Keating said.

"They have so many connections to Health Sciences North, it's an incredible opportunity for them to give back but also for our community to benefit from their generosity."

Once the expansion is complete, it will enable HSN to sustain reasonable wait times for oncology surgeries in northeastern Ontario and meet the growing inpatient treatment needs of cancer patients.

The Shirley and Jim Fielding Northeast Cancer Centre already ranks No. 1 among Ontario's 14 regional cancer programs on quality improvement indicators. 

 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford released a video congratulating the hospital on the donation.