This text is part of the special section Philanthropy
With a building that will soon be 100 years old, several modernization works are to be carried out at the Sacré-Coeur hospital in Montreal. Among the priority projects, the Fondation de l’Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal wishes to improve the comfort and rehabilitation of patients by renovating the spinal cord injury unit, designing an adapted and humane environment with a cancer center and an integrated center renal support.
“There are many causes in which to get involved in Montreal. But Sacré-Coeur is a strategic hospital, in particular because it is the only one in the city to have a heliport. And personally, it is particularly close to my heart because it is here that my spouse, now deceased from breast cancer, was treated, and she really received care of an extraordinary quality there, “says Claude Gagnon, President of Operations of BMO Financial Group for Quebec and member of the board of directors of the Fondation de l’Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal.
He has agreed to get actively involved in raising the $40 million needed for the major fundraising campaign that is underway to allow the realization of priority projects. “I said to myself that after having received so much from Sacré-Coeur, I would try to help the hospital to help other people who need care. »
The Sacré-Coeur de Montréal hospital building, on Gouin Boulevard, will be 100 years old in 2026. “The building is still very solid, but it is certain that to install the best technologies that will meet specific, it needs to be modernized and we are going about it piece by piece,” says Mr. Gagnon.
Create a cancer center
One of the major projects for which the Foundation raises funds is the creation of a cancer center to provide a welcoming, comfortable and respectful environment for patients undergoing chemotherapy treatments.
“The population is aging in Quebec and the older you are, the greater your risk of developing cancer. And to treat them, we need state-of-the-art equipment because this is a field in great evolution, underlines Mr. Gagnon. It is also important to be well equipped to attract the brains that will continue to advance research. »
In addition to creating chemotherapy rooms with a view of the outside, we will make sure to create space for the relatives who accompany the patient and also allow more discretion during discussions with the staff. In addition, the cancer center will be close to emergency rooms for rapid treatment of patients who develop side effects during treatment.
No less than 10 million dollars are needed to carry out this work.
Create an integrated kidney support center
An objective of $5.6 million has been set to create an environment more conducive to the 31,000 hemodialysis treatments performed annually at Sacré-Coeur. We want to bring together all the services there, ie outpatient nephrology consultations, peritoneal dialysis and home hemodialysis.
We also aim to increase from 4 to 25 the number of patients who can benefit from dialysis at home. A new water treatment system to increase the efficiency of dialysis and reduce the risk of infection and complications is also planned. We will also create more private care spaces for patients in order to improve the intimacy of exchanges with the care team.
“We want kidney replacement services to be truly integrated and at the cutting edge of technology,” says Mr. Gagnon.
Renovate the spinal cord injury unit
Modernizing the spinal cord injury unit is another project of the Montreal Sacré-Coeur Hospital Foundation. These patients have a spinal cord injury, often as a result of spinal injury. The consequence is a loss of communication between the brain and the body: there is therefore total or partial paralysis of the arms, legs and trunk. The lesion also often affects the functioning of the organs under the lesion and causes a loss of sensation.
“Sacré-Coeur is also the hospital assigned to receive injuries from major sporting events, such as the Montreal Grand Prix,” says Mr. Gagnon.
Since people with spinal cord injuries need to start moving again quickly to improve their rehabilitation, the Hôpital du Sacré-Coeur de Montréal wants to add a physiotherapy room on the first floor. A sum of $1.2 million is needed to carry out this project.
“All of these planned investments will improve the quality of care, but also the quality of research and teaching,” says Mr. Gagnon. These different components feed off each other and allow the hospital to better meet the needs of the population. »