Catherine and David Hudson have pledged $10 million to the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) in Barrie.
In recognition, Donna Danyluk, Manager of Corporate Communications, says the Simcoe Muskoka Regional Cancer Centre will be renamed in their honour.
The building is where the “gold standard” of heart attack care is given. Jeff McWilliam, Chief of Paramedic Services and Emergency Planning for the District of Muskoka, said that about the Code STEMI Protocol, which was introduced to Muskoka in May 2021.
Gail Hunt, President and CEO of RVH, says residents in the region will be “forever grateful” to the Hudsons.
“This extraordinary gift is the lynchpin in our plan to revolutionize cancer care right here in our own backyard,” she says. “In our expanded cancer program, we will offer the very best in personalized, precise, and minimally invasive treatments delivered by highly trained specialists using the most advanced technology. This means our friends, neighbours and loved ones will be treated sooner, return home sooner, recover sooner, and get back to the life they love sooner.”
The Hudsons were motivated to make the donation, which Danyluk says is the largest in RVH’s history, after David lost his sister Lara to a rare form of breast cancer when she was 35.
“It’s about recognizing that as this region doubles in size, we need to ensure that RVH and the services it provides meet that growth,” he says. “For everyone who has the ability to give, now is the time.”
The donation was made through RVH’s Keep Life Wild campaign. The goal is to raise $100 million to support the ongoing expansion of RVH.
