On April 26, 2007, the QEII Foundation marked the end of its four-year Working Miracles Capital Campaign with a celebratory event to announce the grand total of funds raised - $43.5 million! A sincere thank you is extended to each and every donor who gave to the Campaign. Your generosity has impacted the health care for thousands of Atlantic Canadians.
Recognizing Our Donors.......
Watch the video from the number unveiling (Windows Media Player)
The Campaign’s success, in large part, can be attributed to the leadership of Chair Fred Fountain and the Campaign Cabinet. This Cabinet has been described as “the most influential fundraising team of its kind in the country”. Working Miracles has been the most successful capital campaign for health care in the region, with funds directed towards a number of projects. Some of these include:
- Digital Echocardiography Network - a system that electronically stores and archives echocardiograms, an informative, non-invasive test performed in cardiology. The system also allows for improved image quality and centralized reading of studies.
- Emergency Department Expansion - an initiative to fund a new emergency and trauma centre to accommodate more beds, stretchers, trauma equipment, and a new drive-through ambulance bay.
- Mobility Centre at the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre - an upgraded training facility for the Wheelchair Skills Program that teaches wheelchair users to maneuver around obstacles.
- Teleneurosurgery Project - a project which allows neurosurgeons to perform lifesaving neurosurgical procedures with robotic instrumentation at a distance, in real time.
- Sobey Psychiatry Fellowship - a fund established through the Department of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University, which allows the University to recruit and support one or more postdoctoral individual(s) for a five year period to conduct research into psychiatry and mental health.
- COMPASS Diabetes Primary Care Initiative - an innovative approach that gives patients and family physicians support from diabetes case managers, who help them manage the disease.
- Community Cardiovascular Hearts in Motion Project - a community-based program offering cardiac rehab programs to patients with or at risk of cardiovascular disease.
- ANCHOR Project – A Novel Approach to Cardiovascular Health by Optimizing Risk Management - a project that includes a multi-disciplinary team of health professionals who identify and help patients at risk of developing heart disease.
- Positron Emission Tomography - a powerful imaging technique that helps doctors detect serious illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, and brain disorders.
- CT Fluoro Unit - a diagnostic tool that provides real-time CT Imaging of a patient allowing interventional procedures such as Percutaneous Biopsy to be performed in significantly less time and with improved patient safety.
Working Miracles is establishing Endowed Research Chairs. These endowment funds invest the capital in perpetuity and only the income generated is used by the chair holder to advance their particular research program. Established Endowed Research Chairs include:
- The Canadian Cancer Society Nova Scotia Division Endowed Chair in Population Cancer Research
- The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Atlantic Chapter Endowed Chair in Breast Cancer Research
- The Heart & Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia Endowed Chair in Cardiovascular Outcomes Research
The above noted accomplishments are only a highlight of the many new health care advances that Working Miracles has initiated. The recognition event may have marked the end of the QEII Foundation’s Working Miracles Capital Campaign, but the momentum will carry forward as the QEII Foundation continues to support the superior health care provided at the QEII Health Sciences Centre.