TORONTO, June 4 — Sunnybrook Foundation has publicly launched You’re The Reason, a historic $1 billion campaign, the largest in the hospital’s history, with more than $500 million already raised toward its goal.
Named to reflect the central role donors, patients and Team Sunnybrook play in Sunnybrook’s biggest breakthroughs and most critical moments of care, You’re The Reason is a call to action. The campaign will mobilize extraordinary minds, accelerate clinical trials, equip teams with tools and spaces equal to their ambition, and advance planning for a new Critical Care Centre at Sunnybrook’s Bayview Campus for patients and families in Toronto, across Ontario and beyond.
“This campaign represents a defining moment for Sunnybrook and for health care,” said Kelly Cole, President & CEO, Sunnybrook Foundation. “Our purpose is to fuel the ambition of the hospital. What we choose to do together now will determine how far we can go in delivering exceptional care for the communities that rely on us. When we accomplish this campaign, Sunnybrook will be stronger because of the donors who made it possible.”
Sunnybrook sees more than 1.1 million patient visits each year and cares for more people on the toughest days of their lives than any other hospital in Canada. Across its 11 programs, Sunnybrook advances groundbreaking research, while treating heart attacks, massive strokes, complex cancers, traumatic injuries, high-risk pregnancies and more. As the country’s largest trauma centre, Sunnybrook provides care for people across Ontario in their most critical moments. With Canada’s population aging and health-care needs growing increasingly complex, the way care is delivered must continue to evolve.
“There’s a reason people come to Sunnybrook. When it matters most, when the stakes are highest, when someone needs their best possible chance, this is where they come,” said Dr. Andy Smith, President & CEO, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. “Sunnybrook is not waiting for the future; we are inventing it. You’re The Reason is our chance to make a generational leap.”
Originally established as a military hospital for soldiers returning home from WWII, Sunnybrook remains one of Canada’s largest Veterans Centre and continues to have a strong partnership with the Canadian Armed Forces, providing clinical training and readiness opportunities. Today, Sunnybrook has grown into one of Canada’s leading centres for complex and specialized care. You’re The Reason is concentrated around four interconnected commitments, all pointed in the same direction, to bring the future here first for patients and families:
- Local To Global Leaders: Empower top minds and rising all-stars whose impact starts here and extends beyond Sunnybrook’s walls. Donor support gives Sunnybrook’s leaders protected time to advance programs and research, teach and share skills, and mentor the next generation.
- Integrated Spaces, Tools & Data: Equip Team Sunnybrook to deliver its best when it matters most. Nearly half of Sunnybrook’s facilities date back to 1946; donor support empowers world-class teams with ultra-high-definition imaging, surgical robots, precision tools, digital and AI systems, and purpose-built spaces.
- Research Is Care: Embed discovery into Sunnybrook care that invents the future for more patients and families. Research is woven into every care program at Sunnybrook, from labs to large-scale clinical trials, and discoveries here shape standards in Canada and globally.
- Campus Transformation: Advance planning for a new home for life-saving care, ready in critical moments for the city and province. Critical care demand has grown more than 80 per cent over the last decade and is projected to grow another 40 per cent over the next 10 years. The new Critical Care Centre will connect life-saving resources and unite experts across disciplines so teams can deliver without barriers or delay.
With its donor community, Sunnybrook Foundation has already raised more than $500 million toward its historic $1 billion goal, reaching the halfway mark. Sunnybrook Foundation is now inviting donors, partners, patients and the broader community to help bring the campaign across the finish line. Together, they will be the reason Team Sunnybrook can deliver greater access to world-leading expertise, breakthrough treatments and life-saving innovation when people need it most.
You’re The Reason wouldn’t be possible without the support of the Campaign Founders and Volunteer Cabinet, including the leadership of:
- Honourary Chairs: Nani and Austin Beutel, Gerald and Carla Connor, Anne Odette Kaye and Kevin Kaye, Sheryl and David Kerr, Sonja Koerner and the late Michael Koerner, C.M., Andrea Odette Federer, James Temerty, C.M. and Louise Temerty; and
- Cabinet Co-Chairs: Perry N. Dellelce, Kevin Strain and Jennifer Tory, C.M.