To Our Valued Supporters:I am pleased to inform you the Honourable Deborah Matthews, Ontario’s Minister of Health and Long Term Care, provided Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and St. John’s Rehab Hospital with the final approval needed to merge the two organizations into a single health care provider. The merger came into effect July 1, 2012.
The Ontario Minister’s approval of the merger represents a new beginning for both organizations. Sunnybrook saves lives and St. John’s Rehab puts lives back together. As a single organization, the hospital will offer a comprehensive approach to care that is linked throughout a person’s experience with the healthcare system.
The new organization’s unified vision will be dedicated to providing a system of care for patients from acute illness or injury, through to rehabilitation and recovery. The reputation of excellence in patient care, research and education that each hospital has developed over the years, will be maintained.
The two hospitals have collaborated in the past and the merger comes as a logical next step for both organizations. Each has complementary programs for patients who have complex health issues such as acute interventions and rehabilitation for people with cancer, cardiovascular disease, orthopaedic and arthritic conditions, neurological issues such as stroke, and traumatic injuries such as major burns. The hospitals share many similarities in our organizational cultures and both have a strong commitment to teaching and finding new and better ways of caring for patients.
The rehab program’s ongoing funding needs will not be diminished by the merger. In fact, Canada’s rapidly aging population and a greater awareness of the realities of complex continuing illnesses have made rehabilitative care an increasingly important part of Ontario’s health care system.
To remain at the forefront of specialized rehabilitation care, St. John’s Rehab programs and initiatives will continue to need the support from the St. John’s Rehab Foundation, which will not merge with the Sunnybrook Foundation but work collaboratively under the new unified organization to help support the needs of the multiple programs.
The St. John’s Rehab Foundation will continue to ensure that it’s the charitable foundation of choice for specialized rehabilitation and to do so will rely on the generosity of our community, sponsors, donors and volunteers to fund vital rehabilitation research, specialized rehabilitation patient equipment, rehabilitation staff education initiatives and redevelopment projects. Our supporters will be reassured that every dollar generously donated will continue to be directed towards specialized rehabilitation initiatives and programs.
This is an exciting time and opportunity for both hospitals, the community and most importantly the patients. I look forward to your continued support throughout this next chapter.
For more information, please visit www.stjohnsrehab.com/foundation.
If you have any questions or concerns about the merger or the transition period, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at 416-226-6780 ext. 7330 or by email at tdicosmo@stjohnsrehab.com.
Yours in rebuilding lives,
Tony diCosmo, CFRE
President and CEO
St. John’s Rehab Foundation |
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