A gift for mind and body
Caring for our community is a priority that is shared by the McGill University Health Centre and the many private citizens who are passionately involved in raising the quality of the MUHC’s services. Among the most committed of this group is the Marjorie and Gerald Bronfman Foundation, whose support for causes that encompass the arts, education and health care has made an indelible mark on institutions across Montreal. At the MUHC, the Foundation’s commitment has resulted in significant improvements in the areas of cardiology and cancer research, the latter commemorated with the creation in the late 1990s of the Gerald Bronfman Centre for Clinical Research in Oncology at McGill University.
Continuing in this tradition of open-handedness, Mrs. Marjorie Bronfman recently announced her decision to make a generous donation of $750,000 to the Best Care for Life campaign through the Marjorie and Gerald Bronfman Foundation. This gift will support two projects that will have an immediate impact on the well-being of MUHC patients and that will continue to yield benefits once the redevelopment is complete.
Half of the donation will enhance important renovations in the Department of Gastroenterology at the Mountain Campus. Dr. Alan Barkun, Chief of Gastroenterology, enthusiastically notes that, “In addition to patients receiving better care, doctors, students and staff will be helped enormously by this gift, which will bring video-conference capabilities to our unit and allow us to share research and educational opportunities with our colleagues.” As for the improved patient care Barkun refers to, new signage will be posted, modern intercom systems will be installed, and existing waiting rooms will be updated, all of which will mean a more positive patient experience. The donation will also provide for the purchase of new equipment to create a state-of-the-art educational centre for patients and family members, to be named The Marjorie and Gerald Bronfman Communications and Education Centre for Gastroenterology.
The other half of Mrs. Bronfman’s gift will support the Personality Disorders Program of the Mental Health Mission of the MUHC. Begun on a small scale in 2001 and expanded into a pilot project in 2005, the program has demonstrated outstanding success in improving the lives of patients who suf-fer from Borderline Personality Disorder a notoriously intractable condition for which little therapeutic support has traditionally existed. Dr. Warren Steiner, Psychiatrist-in-Chief of the MUHC, calls the gift “inspirational” and goes on to say that “with this donation, we’ll be able to retain two psycholo-gists and one research assistant, as well as support for our administrative staff. Without these personnel, we couldn’t continue to see the 100 percent success rate we do now.” A plaque honouring Marjorie and Gerald Bronfman will be installed in recognition of this outstanding contribution.
The Marjorie and Gerald Bronfman Foundation’s extraordinary gift is the perfect demonstration of how the Best Care for Life campaign can allow donors to help patients today while building a strong foundation for the future. Philanthropic tradition and a progressive vision are two more values that the Bronfman Foundation and the MUHC share.
