St. Joe’s receives $10 million gift for MRIs

TORONTO – St. Joseph’s Hospital announced that a transformative $10 million donation by Myron and Berna Garron (pictured) will be used to purchase two new MRI machines. The investment will be used to replace an existing MRI machine that has been running 24/7, and with two scanners, will double the hospital’s capacity to 30,000 MRI tests a year.

It was a tour through St. Joe’s, and learning about how vital the hospital’s lone MRI machine is to patient care, that inspired the gift.

“I thought to myself, ‘What the heck is going to happen if that machine shuts down?’” Myron Garron said at an event celebrating the donation. “So I thought it was time to speed things up a bit.”

Maria Dyck, president and CEO of St. Joseph’s Health Centre Foundation, said the Garrons’ gift will help decrease the stressful wait times that create uncertainty for patients in Toronto’s growing and diverse west-end community.

“More and more people, both young and old, are choosing to put down their roots here. This transformative gift from the Garrons will help our neighbours get the very best care – and close to home,” Dyck said.

In addition to the unveiling of the Garron Family Our Lady of Mercy Wing – where 40 percent of St. Joe’s patients receive their care – the donation will also be commemorated with the naming of the Garron Family Centre of Excellence in MRI.

The Garrons had also previously supported the hospital’s Geoffrey H. Wood Foundation Centre of Excellence in Breast Cancer Screening and Treatment. The family’s contributions will help build a second mammography suite that will double the number of breast screenings that can be performed annually at the hospital.

In 2015, the Garrons gave an unprecedented $50-million to the Toronto East General Hospital, which was then renamed the Michael Garron Hospital to honour their son who died of cancer at 13 years old. They also donated $30-million to Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), where their son received treatment, and unveiled the Garron Family Cancer Centre for care, research and training at the children’s hospital.

St. Joseph’s has received several notable donations recently, including an $11.8-million donated by Hans Koehle for a new palliative care unit in June and $10-million donated by Mattamy Homes CEO Peter Gilgan in September of 2017.