A Word from our President & CEO
A Year of Inspiration – Thank You!
It’s been an exciting year at the Montreal General Hospital Foundation (MGHF) with important investments in healthcare initiatives, a fresh look to reflect our mission, and the launch of a collaborative fundraising campaign. Thank you to our dedicated team, our partners and to our many volunteers, and especially to the generosity of so many who make this possible.
We are delighted to see our renewed mission resonating throughout our community. Our mission is to inspire the philanthropic community to invest in transformative initiatives, conceived and guided by our medical leaders, which have a significant impact on patient lives. In doing so, we advance the pioneering spirit of the Montreal General Hospital, which joined forces with McGill University to form Canada’s first teaching hospital.
Our pillars – which guide us every day – are to Support. Connect. Transform. Inspire. This is our commitment to you, as we transform healthcare together.
Indeed, we believe in the power of collaboration for greater impact and are proud to share stories of how your generosity makes an incredible difference! From giving our best Together Against Cancer to building the psychiatry of tomorrow and developing robotics to shape the future of surgery, your support brings to life these groundbreaking projects, among many others.
Thanks to your donations, we can invest in transformative initiatives that impact patients throughout Quebec, Canada, and beyond. Thank you for believing in the power of philanthropy, and for empowering medical leaders and researchers to innovate, improve outcomes, and ultimately save lives.
Your generosity inspires us every day!
You have our deepest gratitude.
Stephanie Riddell, President and CEO of the Montreal General Hospital Foundation
Your Philanthropy in Numbers
Throughout this year, our Foundation has been thankful to be able to count on your unwavering financial support. Your generosity fuels our growth and has tangible impact on every program and research lab we support, as well as on countless patients and families.
Financial Overview
Sources of Revenue
Thanks to your generosity, we raised over $20M in total gifts this fiscal year. Thank you!
Support to Healthcare
We provided $17.8M to prioritize the advancement of research, patient care, capital projects and equipment, and academic enhancement.
Our administrative expenditures to revenue ratio of 12.6%, reflects our efficient management, positioning us ahead of industry standards in the philanthropic community. Your donation dollars are directed where needed.
Together Against Cancer
A Collaborative Campaign for Greater Impact
More than $66M raised so far, thanks to your generosity!
Together Against Cancer is a unique collaboration between the Cedars Cancer Foundation and the Montreal General Hospital Foundation. Our goal is to raise $100 million to support transformative projects that will improve the experience, quality of life, and outcomes of cancer patients.
Real People, Powerful Stories – The campaign’s public phase features articles, videos, posters, social media, TV, and bus shelter ads highlighting the real faces of cancer care and research, and powerful stories of hope, dedication, and resilience. These real- life images of our medical teams and patients, who give their best every day against cancer, hopefully inspired you to give the best you can to help them.
Three main priorities, one shared goal: to change lives.
- Equal access to the best care and support: so every patient, regardless of their situation, receives the treatment they need.
- Personalized, precision cancer care: to tailor treatments to each patient’s specific needs, using data and technology.
- Life-changing innovation and research: such as surgical procedures to treat lymphedema, pioneering research aimed at preventing metastasis, and more,
Thanks to you, we are making progress. Together, united against cancer.
Imagine if We Could Stop Cancer From Metastasizing
Dr. Jonathan Cools-Lartigue is testing a new strategy to stop metastasis that examines what makes a person’s immune system blind to cancer cells and allows a tumour to grow. Thanks to philanthropic support, the first phase of his project was fully funded this year! Showcasing the impact of donor support, these funds were used to support the hiring of a post-doctoral researcher and enable Dr. Cools-Lartigue to further this important work.
I don’t think I can stress enough how important community support and philanthropy are to help us carry on vital research. We strive for excellence in care and treatments for all our patients.
With the support of the Montreal General Hospital Foundation, the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) is home to talented experts who embrace an interdisciplinary approach to assure exceptional, compassionate patient care for our patients and their families, as well as vital research and teaching. To every donor, thank you for making Together Against Cancer a resounding success in collaboration with the Cedars Cancer Foundation.
Soirée en or Raised $500,000
The tropics came to the Four Seasons on December 5, 2024, for Soirée en or, which raised nearly $500,000 to support transformative research projects in thoracic cancers. Co-chaired by Heidi Hollinger and Dominic Costantini, our fundraiser supports cancer research of the MUHC’s Division of Thoracic Surgery. Led by Dr. Lorenzo Ferri at the MGH, the department is renowned for treating complex cancers of patients referred from more than 42 hospitals across the province. In the lab, Dr. Ferri and his team are developing personalized, precision treatments. Dr. Ferri’s pan-cancer, pan-Canadian Precision Oncology Platform is a major initiative to develop these personalized treatments, also supported by our Together Against Cancer campaign.
A SuPER New Home!
The Surgical Performance Enhancement and Robotics (SuPER) centre moved into its new home within the Dr. Phil Gold Pavilion of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (The Institute)’s at the MGH. Directed by Amir Hooshiar, PhD, this futuristic research hub is bringing robotics and AI to many medical disciplines — from orthopedic, abdominal, head and neck, eye, maxillofacial, and spinal surgery to interventional cardiology and radiology — reimagining and redesigning medical procedures to make them less invasive, more personalized, safer, and more effective.
Remote Monitoring for a Smooth Recovery
To reduce hospital stays and improve patient experience, your generosity supported a virtual patient interface so surgery patients can go home sooner. Led by Dr. Larry Lee at the MGH, the post-discharge remote monitoring project was piloted with bariatric, thoracic, colorectal, and joint replacement surgeries. Thanks to its effectiveness, this solution is now being rolled out to surgical departments across the MUHC.
Bringing AI to Surgery
The Future of Surgery initiative is now benefiting from using a revolutionary new platform called Theator. This technology allows surgeons to more easily record a record and review operations and applies AI analytics for educational and improvement purposes. This data is an incredible resource for training, quality improvement and research, and is already being used to review and improve surgical techniques, train and coach residents, and in research projects. A major step forward for excellence in care, thanks to you!
We’re working on surgical robotics to do very complex surgical cuts for cancer treatment. This year I used augmented reality in the operating room. The possibilities are endless.
Research & Innovation
Celebrating Research at Our Impact & Innovation Evening
Approximately half our Foundation’s funding goes to research and innovation! This year, we invested $9.1 million in research, amounting to 51% of our philanthropic support.
Showcasing the impact of this support, visionary researchers, generous philanthropists, and medical leaders filled Montreal’s Maison Alcan on October 23, 2024, for the MGHF’s inaugural Impact & Innovation Evening.
This event also celebrated the 67 recipients of this year’s MGHF Research Awards. Thanks to our donors, award recipients collectively benefited from $2 million in funding, advancing projects ranging from personalized cancer care to brain and mental health, medicine, surgery, healthy living, and more. In addition, the evening featured health-tech startups supported by our Impact Investment Program, a partnership with the Clinical Innovation Platform (CLIP) – a unique incubator at the heart of the MGH and The Institute.
We’re trying to figure out the immune landscape in the uterus at the time the embryo wants to implant. What is different between patients that have normal fertility and patients that are infertile or miscarry? The eventual goal of this research is to have a blood test to diagnose and treat an immune problem before patients have recurrent miscarriages or repeated in-vitro fertilization failures.
Accelerating Healthcare Innovation, One Investment at a Time
On July 25, 2024, donors, doctors, investors, researchers, entrepreneurs, and guests gathered at the Clinical Innovation Platform (CLIP) to hear pitches from six health-tech startups. Selected from more than 20 applicants, these startups were vying for funding through the MGHF’s Impact Investment Program.
Supporting the Next Generation of Innovation
This unique program offers convertible loans for startups wanting to scale their healthcare innovations to the benefit of patients in Quebec and Canada.
Since successfully pitching at this event, Juno Technologies (developing a wearable device to relieve menstrual pain) and Ora Medical (creating innovative remote rehabilitation solutions) received funding through our program.
This year, we also granted impact investment funding to two other startups, selected for the program in 2023:
- AFX Medical is an AI-assisted, neuro-oncology software company.
- Hepius Medical is developing smart cardiac catheter technology to assist surgeons in delivering effective ablation therapy.
When Philanthropy Fuels the Future
Thanks to our generous community, startups supported through the MGHF’s Impact Investment Program have the funding they need to develop amazing ideas to transform healthcare and change lives! Together, we are transforming medicine.
This program is possible thanks to the generous support of National Bank, the John Dobson Foundation, Birks Family Foundation, and many others.
At The Institute, our vision is to advance precision health across the life course. By integrating cutting-edge research with collaborative innovation, our scientists are transforming healthcare to improve quality of life. Philanthropy is essential for this innovation. It accelerates discovery, enables bold ideas, and empowers researchers to turn potential into progress. We are deeply grateful for your generous support.
Interviews:
Taking the Pulse
Meet the people reinventing healthcare.
Tune into our Taking the Pulse series and discover bold ideas and research projects that are innovating medicine today and tomorrow. Thanks to your generosity, we are giving a voice to leaders in the medical field who are challenging established approaches and improving the lives of patients.
Each interview provides an opportunity to address current health issues, highlight new discoveries, and shine a light on initiatives and research led by experts supported by the MGHF.
Get up close and personal with the medical leaders behind these innovations.
Taking the Pulse: Noémi’s Story – Surviving Sarcoma
Wednesday July 24th, 2024
At just 17 years old, during the pandemic, Noémi was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. A rare form of bone cancer, it’s the same kind Terry Fox had. She shares her story in the latest episode of Taking the Pulse (in French), our series of interviews with doctors, researchers, and patients. Being diagnosed with cancer at such a young …
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Taking the Pulse: What is Cancer?
Tuesday October 15th, 2024
Dr. Robert Turcotte, Orthopedic Surgeon (MGH-MUHC) and Dr. Jonathan Cools-Lartigue, Thoracic Surgeon (MGH-MUHC) explain the basics of this disease, which is the leading cause of death in Canada. What are metastases? Can sarcoma be cured? They answer these and other questions. Learn more about cancer from these two experts. Dr. Cools-Lartigue is a spokesperson for …
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Taking the Pulse: What is Precision Psychiatry, with Dr. Simon Ducharme
Tuesday January 21st, 2025
Have you heard the term “precision psychiatry” but aren’t too sure what it means and how it could benefit patients? Do you wonder what role artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning play in precision psychiatry? What could a Centre for Precision Psychiatry do to advance research and improve patient lives? Dr. Simon Ducharme, Neuropsychiatrist (MUHC) …
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Honouring an Icon: The New Dr. Phil Gold Pavilion
What’s in a name? Plenty, in the case of Dr. Phil Gold. Last June, in collaboration with the Research Institute of the MUHC, we announced the naming of the pavilion that houses The Institute at the MGH: the Dr. Phil Gold Pavilion.
In his 60-year career at the MGH, the incomparable Dr. Gold made an incredible impact on countless patients, clinicians, and researchers. A collaborator, friend, and mentor of the Foundation and many medical leaders we support, Dr. Gold is a renowned clinician-scientist who, in 1965, along with Dr. Samuel Freedman, discovered the first biomarker for cancer. (In fact, in the 1970s, the pavilion that now bears Dr. Gold’s name was first built using funds he donated from the sale of this blood test to detect cancer.)
“The Dr. Phil Gold Pavilion will stand as a testament to his legacy of discovery, innovation, and care. Dr. Gold is not only a brilliant researcher and an exceptional leader, but above all, an unmatched mentor. Everyone he has trained can attest to this, and that’s why his name truly belongs on this building.” Stephanie Riddell, President & CEO, MGHF
It's an honour to serve as Chair of the Foundation’s Board. Each of our dedicated members truly believes in our mission and brings their unique perspective and passion to the work we do. When we welcome new Board members, as we have this year, I often say they’ll learn as much volunteering with us as they do in their careers – if not more. Your support creates lasting impact and inspires our community – from generous donors to medical leaders, and patients and families whose lives are transformed by your generosity. Thank you.
Create Your Legacy: Planned Giving
Planned Giving is a simple way to build a legacy and join a generous community that is a beacon of hope and vitality. Your gifts help advance healthcare for future generations and impact patient lives. This year, we launched the new Legacy of Hope Circle to recognize our Planned Giving donors.
“My brother Gerald had the philosophy, ‘If you have the means, you don’t keep it to yourself — you give it away.’ My sister-in-law left most of her estate to charity — including the MGHF. Gerald felt just as strongly as helping others — and named the Foundation in his will. That’s something for the son of a shoeshine boy who came to Canada alone at eight years old. Our parents taught us about helping others from the time we were young.” Paul Daoussis on his brother Gerald’s legacy
Healthy Aging: Advice You Can Trust
On November 7, 2024, we invited an intimate group of guests and donors, including members of our new Legacy of Hope Circle, launched to recognize our Planned Giving donors, to the Janet E. Hutchinson Lectureship on healthy aging. This talk was delivered by Dr. José Morais, Director, Division of Geriatric Medicine, MUHC, and kinesiologist Guy Hajj Boutros, PhD.
How You Can Make a Difference
Everything we do is possible thanks to you. Every act of support counts! You have the power to create change and bring hope to countless patients and families by supporting the Foundation. Behind every breakthrough are generous, compassionate people like you. There are many ways to support the Foundation and fuel our mission, whether by making a one-time gift, becoming a monthly donor, honouring your Star, or organizing a community fundraiser for a cause close to your heart. You can make a real difference. Thank you for your generosity!
Honour Your Star: A Gesture of Gratitude that Shines
Did someone at the MGH improve your experience, or a loved one’s experience? Do what almost 200 patients and families did this year – make that person your Star. Our Foundation’s Star Recognition Program invites you to thank a staff member who improved your hospital experience by making a gift in their honour! For all donations over $50, your honouree will receive your message of gratitude and a Star pin.
Offer a Comfort Kit
Small gesture, big impact: Our Foundation is proud to make it easy for you to purchase Comfort Kits, which are offered to MGH patients. Each kit is stocked with toiletries and essentials to make hospital stays more comfortable. Thanks to your generosity, this year, our Comfort Kits helped hundreds of patients and inspired incredible gestures of community support.
During the holiday season, a very special group of students from the McGill-HEC Montréal EMBA 2025 cohort matched every comfort kit purchased by donating a second one. They came to the MGH to assemble the kits and put their hearts into this initiative. With $11,274 donated for Comfort Kits, their efforts are an inspiring example of the impact we can have together!
Community Connections: $395,000 Raised for IBD Care
Magic and mind games reigned at A Night of Magic! Every year, the McGill IBD Research Group Committee of volunteers (Matthew Stotland and Ryan Abrams are committee co-presidents), collaborates with our Foundation for a fundraiser taking place in November, Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Month.
Dr. Alain Bitton, previous Director of the McGill Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and one of the forces behind the MUHC’s IBD Centre at the MGH, received the Dr. Ernest Seidman Award in IBD Excellence. Thanks to our donors, this year’s event raised $395,000 for patient care at the IBD clinics of three MUHC teaching hospitals, including the Montreal General Hospital, Montreal Children’s Hospital, and Jewish General Hospital. Some of these funds were used to support the Bruce Kaufman Chair in Inflammatory Bowel Disease, a multi-institutional endowed chair position held by esteemed clinician Dr. Matthieu Allez, newly recruited to Montreal.
Pharmaprix Run for Women. Together, we raised over $180,000 to support mental health services at the MUHC at this fun-filled annual event.
The 45th Annual Golf Classic. This collaboration between the MGHF and the Cedars Cancer Foundation raised $601,500 for MUHC cancer research and patient care.
Meet our Board of Directors
Leadership and commitment at the heart of our mission
The MGHF’s mission matters to me because it champions innovation and collaboration for better patient care. I’m committed to raising funds that support medical excellence and help patients receive world-class care when they need it most.
As a former MGHF Connexion Circle member who now serves on the Board, I’ve seen how vital access to quality healthcare can be — especially in underserved communities. Watching my father battle diabetes underscored the importance of medical advancement and compassionate care,and my mother was an MGH nurse for 35 years. Supporting the Foundation’s mission allows me to honour their legacy and ensure others have access to care and innovation.
Thank YOU! To our donors, your support makes all the difference. Whether you make a one-time
gift, become a monthly donor, or support the Foundation’s initiatives in another way that matters to you, everything we do is possible thanks to you. A special thank you to all our Governors.*
*Donors whose annual contributions reach $250 or more in a year earn the title of Governor and are listed on our website.
