'Love, Scarborough' campaign seeks to close health-care funding gap by raising $100M
Scarborough is asking Toronto to share the love when it comes to hospital donations.
In a new campaign that launched this month, the Scarborough Health Network (SHN) Foundation says their facilities receive less than one per cent of hospital donations in Toronto—even though it represents about 25 per cent of the city’s population.
“The hospitals in Scarborough have been chronically underfunded for decades now. And we see that in the aging infrastructure, and just in the lack of spaces to expand,” Dr. Collette Rutherford, Corporate Chief and Medical Director of Obstetrics and Gynecology at SHN, told CP24 Friday morning.
“These donations are absolutely critical in terms of upgrades, expansions, new programming, and so we're reaching out to Toronto, as a as a larger community, to help us and to support us in raising this $100 million to better serve and continue to provide excellent care to the people of Scarborough.”
The campaign, named “Love, Scarborough,” asks “when will we all be treated equally,” pointing out that most diverse neighborhoods are the most ignored when it comes to healthcare.
The Scarborough Health Network's 'Love, Scarborough' fundraising campaign is looking to raise $100M. (Twitter/Scarborough Health Network Foundation)
Rutherford says that more than half of the one million people who live in the area are newcomers to Canada and about 75 per cent of the population are visible minorities. And yet, these newcomers are being treated in the oldest hospitals.
After reviewing financial data published to the Canadian Revenue Agency, the SHN found that hospital foundations in the City of Toronto received donations of about $1 billion. Officials said the SHN foundation’s share, however, was less than one per cent of that.
The mass media marketing campaign “Love, Scarborough” hopes to change that. In 26 letters—one for every letter of the alphabet—community leaders, patients, doctors, staff and volunteers talk about what the SHN means to them and why they choose to call Scarborough home.
The campaign has been widely supported by various partners, including Bell Media, and politicians like Toronto Mayor John Tory, who last week raised the SHN Foundation’s flag and declared “Love, Scarborough Day.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Air quality advisories issued in 5 provinces, 1 territory
Air quality advisories are in effect across Western Canada as smoky conditions plague some areas, according to the latest forecasts. Here's where.
'Oh my God, you're my brother': Man in his 70s discovers 6 unknown siblings
After receiving a DNA kit one Christmas from his son-in-law, Hugh McCormick soon discovered that he had six unknown siblings, with whom he shared the same birth parents.
No refund for travellers who cancelled flight already scrapped by airline: regulator
Four years on, the controversy over whether airlines owed refunds to passengers after cancelling hundreds of thousands of flights during the pandemic continues to simmer, aggravated by a sluggish, opaque complaints process.
Just how bad are ultraprocessed foods? Here are 5 things to know
Many foods fall under the category of ultraprocessed foods, depending on their exact ingredients. This type of food has been studied a lot lately, and the results aren’t great.
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Rates of cancer declining in Canada, but more work needed to save lives: projections
A new study projecting declining rates of cancer cases and deaths in Canada demonstrates the success of prevention and early detection programs, but also highlights areas where more work is needed to save and prolong lives, researchers say.
DEVELOPING Trump trial arrives at a pivotal moment: Star witness Michael Cohen is poised to take the stand
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial is set to take the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
India's mammoth election is more than halfway done as millions begin voting in fourth round
Millions of Indians across 96 constituencies began casting their ballots on Monday as the country's gigantic, six-week-long election edges past its halfway mark. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third straight term with an eye on winning a supermajority in Parliament.
Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.