$1M donation to HSC will pay for new surgical tech

WINNIPEG – The Health Sciences Centre Foundation says a new $1-million donation from Winnipeg-based insurance company Canada Life will help pay for cutting-edge surgical technology and tools, leading to lower wait times and better patient outcomes at Manitoba’s largest healthcare facility.

Last week, Canada Life announced its $1-million donation to the hospital foundation’s Operation Excellence campaign, a multi-year, $100-million fundraising initiative to upgrade surgical care at Health Sciences Centre.

The campaign, launched in 2022, has helped pay for minimally invasive spine surgery equipment, new ultrasound systems, an advanced neurosurgical system and Manitoba’s first surgical robot, the foundation said in a news release.

HSC Foundation board chair Katie Hall Hursh (pictured) said the da Vinci surgical robot – nicknamed “Mona” – has helped surgeons operate on dozens of cancer patients who would not have been eligible for surgery before HSC acquired the robot.

“With the surgical robot, many patients are going home the day after surgery, some even the same day – cancer-free and without pain,” Hursh said.

Dr. Chris Christodoulou, Shared Health’s interim president and CEO, said the specialized tools acquired through the fundraising campaign have helped reduce wait times, hospital stays and post-surgery pain, leading to “better health outcomes for Manitobans.”

“Every day, thousands of patients come through our doors – patients who require specialized, cutting-edge care that this donation helps us to provide,” Christodoulou said.

HSC chief operating officer Dr. Shawn Young said most families in Manitoba will need care at the Winnipeg facility at some point in their lives.

HSC staff provide complex care, including cancer and trauma services, that wouldn’t be possible without cutting-edge equipment, he said.

“This [funding] allows us to make investments in those tools and technologies that will allow us to help provide care in a much more advanced way,” Young said.

“We need to be there for folks, and being able to be tooled with the most modern equipment gives us all such an advantage,” he said.

Fabrice Morin, Canada Life’s Canada president and chief operating officer, said the $1-million donation just made sense for the insurance company.

“We believe in the values of health accessibility, health affordability, health efficacy, quality of health. That’s so aligned with the mission of HSC here in our hometown of Winnipeg,” he said during Thursday’s announcement.

“It’s very important that we’re close to the communities that we serve,” he said.