What’s Code Life?
Code Life is the revitalized Montreal General Hospital Foundation brand. It is our pledge to support vital care and our expression of respect for the precious nature of life. Through Code Life, we seek to protect, heal, extend, and save lives in all the medical institutions with which we are affiliated. We also seek to foster the advancement of knowledge through academic programs, and to promote and support all forms of caregiving. We chose the phrase Code Life because it draws on the familiar language used on hospital PA systems to alert staff to emergency situations. Therefore, it signals the timely and skilled nature of the Foundation’s support.
Q: Why Vital Support for Vital Care?
A: Vital Support for Vital Care is what we stand for. It is the symbiotic relationship between our donors’ desire to make a real difference, and the informed and unbiased selection of priority healthcare projects to support. The Foundation seeks to protect, heal, extend, and save life within our network of medical institutions, to support research within our network of academic institutions, and to foster sensitivity to the preciousness and fragility of life in all forms of caregiving.
Q: What is the scope of the MGHF’s support?
A: The MGHF expanded the scope of its support to the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and more broadly, the McGill academic health network, all the while ensuring that donors’ contributions are wisely invested. Our Foundation supports research programs, acquires cutting-edge equipment, invests in professional training and helps medical teams with priority needs.
Q: How did we earn our donors’ trust?
A: Since 1973, the Montreal General Hospital Foundation (MGHF) has played a key role within the Montreal General Hospital (MGH) as a proud sponsor of significant medical R&D and technology development and acquisition. The MGHF now manages the third largest healthcare fund in Quebec, with $140 million in assets. In accordance with the wishes of donors, the funds raised by the MGHF go toward supporting patient care, research programs, acquiring cutting-edge equipment, and helping medical teams with their priority needs. Its leadership and strong relationships with the healthcare community have made the MGHF a sound advisor for donors as to where funds are most needed and can have the greatest impact.
Q: What are the medical programs supported by our Foundation?
Our Foundation’s main focus is Adult Care including Trauma, Thoracic Surgery, Mental Health and other Medicine programs. Driven by the goals of innovation and skill development, the MGHF takes pride in providing annual support for different projects within the MGH and the MUHC, such as:
- Research and training programs in various medical fields
- Grants and career awards to support our best researchers
- Development of new vital care units such as the Mental Health Emergency Short Stay Unit
- Purchase of new state-of- the-art equipment for the thoracic, bariatric and other specialized surgeries
- Renovation and enhancement of operating rooms
These vital initiatives, supported by the generosity of our donors, all push the limits of modern medicine in their own way for the ultimate benefit of patients.
For more information on the programs supported, consult our Annual Report.
Q: How exactly does our Foundation work?
A: Our foundation is built around its donors: individuals like you, or someone in your family, who have experienced care first hand and want to give something back; community and business leaders seeking to gain a better understanding of a given health issue or to find a cure for a disease; corporations active in our community and other dedicated foundations, families and trusts. These donors rely for guidance on the Foundation, aware of its trusted reputation within the healthcare community and its access to the medical and healthcare professionals whose work donors seek to support. They greatly appreciate the Foundation’s prudent management of their financial contributions as well as its skill in matching donors to healthcare priorities, mapping out methods of giving, and ensuring that donors’ gifts are recognized in a variety of ways.
Q: How much should I give?
A: We welcome and work with all donors. Some give occasionally, some give often. The important thing is for donors to know that they are making a difference whether they give 20 or two million dollars. We communicate with our donor community as often as is possible and relevant. We update donors on the latest medical research, equipment and infrastructure upgrades through a variety of online and print communications and distribute an annual report on our performance.
Q: Aren’t our tax dollars supposed to take care of all this?
A: We are lucky to live in a country that believes in healthcare for all. Provincial governments strive, and often struggle, to deliver access to legislated standards of care. Our Foundation’s approach of strategically placed donor support can raise standards of excellence and pave the way for future innovation. Many talented medical researchers are also supported with our donors’ generous gifts and the results are new cures, better treatments, and enhanced recovery times. Public funding is not always sufficient to replace old equipment with cutting-edge technology. For all these reasons, the financial support provided by our Foundation is VITAL.
Q: How do I benefit from the Foundation’s work?
A: LIFE is fragile. It can take unexpected turns. Sometimes, life is disrupted, whether by an accident or a disease, and that’s when health care becomes so VITAL. We are all vulnerable, so it’s reassuring to know that our medical teams are constantly at work on improving treatments and recovery time, developing minimally invasive surgery practices, and generally raising the standards of patient care. This would not be possible without the support of donors like you. Generations of donors have made it their moral responsibility, and a point of pride, to support the ceaseless efforts to improve healthcare and ensure that it is available when we need it.
Support Code Life, the Montreal General Hospital Foundation.