Thomson family donates $5 million to Toronto East General Hospital.
Peter Thomson, left, Toronto East General Hospital CEO Rob Devitt and Diana Thomson present an artist's rendering of the hospital's Ken and Marilyn Thomson Patient Care Centre on Wednesday. The Thomsons donated $5 million to the fundraising campaign to build the new facility.
Staff photo/DAN PEARCE
Toronto East General Hospital Foundation had five million reasons to smile Wednesday morning.
The foundation announced a $5-million gift from Peter and Diana Thomson in honour of Peter's parents to create the Ken and Marilyn Thomson Patient Care Centre.
The new centre will be the focal point of the $211-million redevelopment recently approved for the Toronto East General Hospital (TEGH) in the fall. The donation is the largest single private donation to the redevelopment campaign. The expansion will be one of the largest investments in infrastructure that east Toronto has seen in decades.
"This will be a transformational gift for the hospital and more importantly it will forever link Toronto East General with the Thomson family," said Michael Burns, chair of the TEGH foundation board of directors.
"We couldn't be more thrilled. To have the Thomson name behind a hospital like Toronto East General is a real coup."
The family has a long history with the community hospital with Ken Thomson having spent time there and Peter and Diana welcoming their daughter into the world at TEGH.
"Almost all of us have had some sort of treatment here and we've all been impressed by the doctors and staff," said Peter.
"We feel lucky to be able to help fulfill the goal of building a state of the art facility, and honouring my parents at the same time."
Peter later said that when he saw the plans for the new TEGH facility, the family was excited to be part of the expansion.
"We never had to ask," Burns said. "The Thomsons had an emotional connection with the hospital and they recognized the need."
The Ken and Marilyn Thomson Patient Care Centre will accommodate the most advanced medical technology, the highest standards of infection control and superior privacy and comfort for patients and their families.
It will also accommodate 280 new medical and surgical beds, and consolidate dozens of TEGH's outpatient programs into a single, convenient venue.
"This is a huge leap for us and it will be huge not only in making sure we reach our goal, but this will become the catalyst for the philanthropic community," added Rob Devitt, CEO of TEGH.
The TEGH Foundation needs to raise $60 million from the community for its share of the redevelopment project, with the Thomson donation the amount raised now stands at $48 million. Burns believes the generosity of the Thomsons and others will spur the remaining donations to get the foundation to its goal.
"This will be a catalyst for other corporations and individuals to want to be involved with Toronto East General," Devitt said.
He added every donation no matter how large or small add up to help achieve the goal of better care for patients close to home.