This place is special

THIS PLACE IS
SPECIAL
BREAKTHROUGHS HAPPEN HERE THANKS TO YOU
SUNNYBROOK.CA/FOUNDATION

YOUR SUPPORT IS MAKING A
PROFOUND DIFFERENCE FOR
OUR PATIENTS
Sunnybrook is a place where relentless determination meets
health care innovation. It's a place that brings together
some of the best and brightest minds to collaborate and
provide exceptional care. Most importantly, it’s a place that
offers patients their best chance at recovery when they
are up against their toughest moments. As a Sunnybrook
monthly donor, you are helping make a profound difference
in our work — thank you.
Together, with your support and the extraordinary
knowledge and expertise of Team Sunnybrook, we will
turn research into breakthroughs, trailblaze advances in
patient care, and lead the way in clinical trials to define
new treatment models. This place is special, and with your
incredible support, you are fueling life-saving innovations
and care, every single day.
Read on to learn more about the ways your support is
reaching our teams and meet some of the patients whose
lives have been transformed by the generosity of donors
like you.
With your help, we can be there for
patients and their families in life's
toughest moments.
Patient undergoing repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS),
a novel treatment option for depression.
2

TOGETHER, WE ARE
ACCELERATING LIFE-SAVING
BREAKTHROUGHS
IN BRAIN SCIENCES
Meet Marci.
One day Marci noticed that a lump had appeared on her
forehead. She was referred to Sunnybrook, where she was
diagnosed with meningioma — the most common type of
brain tumour. A team of leading specialists determined that
Marci needed surgery. Her tumour was successfully removed
and a custom-made titanium mesh plate was used to cover
the site of the operation. Thanks to the incredible efforts of
our Sunnybrook team, Marci was able to return home to her
daughter just five days later.
When another tumour was discovered the following year,
Marci knew exactly where she needed to be. Her second
operation at Sunnybrook was also a success.
Your support continues to ensure that patients like Marci
can receive personalized, life-saving care — thank you.
Marci with her daughter after receiving treatment for a brain tumour
at Sunnybrook.
HURVITZ BRAIN SCIENCES PROGRAM
2,000 +
500 +
18,000 +
outpatient stroke
clinic visits
every year.
metastatic brain
cancer patients
treated every year.
mental-health visits
for patients from
across Ontario.
4

Donor support is driving innovation and treatment in brain
health and Sunnybrook is leading the world in revolutionary
treatments like focused ultrasound — a groundbreaking
technology that harnesses the power of ultrasound
energy to target specific areas of the brain and body. From
Alzheimer’s to glioblastoma, we are using this minimally
invasive approach in clinical trials to treat the most
devastating diseases of our time. You make these lifesaving
innovations possible.
With your support, we are bringing to life our bold vision for
the future of brain health. Sunnybrook’s state-of-the-art
Garry Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre brings together many
of the greatest minds and expertise in brain sciences under
one roof, creating exciting new avenues for collaboration.
This incredible facility will help accelerate a new generation
of personalized and precise treatments.
Rendering of the Gary Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre.
Our ultimate goal is to develop
direct-to-brain therapies that may one day
help in early prevention and treatment for
patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other
neurodegenerative disorders.
This focused ultrasound brain device is being studied to deliver
therapies non-invasively into the brain.
— Dr. Sandra Black
Senior Scientist and Cognitive Neurologist,
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
6

TOGETHER, WE ARE
INVENTING THE FUTURE
OF CANCER CARE
The Gamma Knife Icon
Your monthly support helps us to bring life-changing
technology and procedures, not yet funded by government,
to our patients.
The Gamma Knife Icon works by
focusing hundreds of radiation
beams on a single target.
Individually, each beam is too
weak to damage the healthy
tissue it crosses on the way to
its target, but at the site where
they converge, cancerous
tissue is destroyed.
Approximately
500
patients receive this faster,
more accurate treatment
each year.
30 +
tumours can be
treated at a time.
Dr. Arjun Sahgal (first from right), Chief of Radiation Oncology
and the Radiation Treatment Program at Sunnybrook Health
Sciences Centre, and members of the radiation team with the
new MR-Linac — the Elekta Unity. This is the first machine in
the world to combine radiation and high-resolution magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI). The Elekta Unity targets tumors
and monitors their response to radiation with unprecedented
precision thanks to the machine’s real-time MRI guidance.
100,000 +
cancer
outpatient visits
each year.
ODETTE CANCER CENTRE
55,000 +
radiation
treatment visits
each year.
30,000 +
chemotherapy
treatment visits
each year.
8

Meet Liz.
Liz was just three weeks away from having a baby when she
experienced a seizure and was rushed to hospital.
At Sunnybrook, state-of-the-art imaging revealed a tumour
in Liz’s brain. She was rushed to the operating room. In an allhands-on-deck
moment, a team of surgeons and oncologists
worked together to remove Liz’s tumour, while a specialist
from Sunnybrook’s DAN Women and Babies Program
monitored her baby’s health.
Liz’s craniotomy was a success and three weeks later she
returned to Sunnybrook with her fiancé Justin, where she
gave birth to their daughter Josie.
Uncovering personalized solutions for each patient is a
crucial part of what we do at Sunnybrook — and it's made
possible through the generosity of donors like you.
ODETTE CANCER CENTRE
IS ONE OF THE TOP 10
COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTRES
IN THE WORLD
282,000 +
patients treated
each year.
140 +
active clinical trials that explore
groundbreaking treatments.
Liz with her fiancé Justin and their daughter Josie.
10

Meet James.
James was working on his family farm when he experienced
a life-altering accident. He was using a tractor to pull a truck
from a ditch and the tow-chain snapped — recoiling at high
velocity, the chain struck James’ face, causing a serious
wound and breaking his jaw.
James was rushed to Sunnybrook’s trauma centre where a
surgical team painstakingly repaired his jaw and treated his
injuries. The days in urgent care that followed were difficult
— James ultimately credits his family and the compassionate,
highly skilled team at Sunnybrook for helping him make it out
the other side.
“I got to know some people who are truly wonderful, nice
people. I spent a lot of time talking to them and it really
changed my outlook on some things in my own life,” says
James. “It gave me a very deep and profound appreciation of
the staff and the quality of people who work at Sunnybrook.”
Thank you for helping us deliver the best possible care to
patients like James in critical moments.
Sunnybrook is Canada's first Level 1 trauma centre, the first hospital
outside of the United States to achieve this mark of excellence.
CANADA’S FIRST
LEVEL 1 TRAUMA CENTRE
ONE IN THREE Ontario trauma patients receive lifesaving
care at Sunnybrook’s trauma centre, the busiest in
the province.
Sunnybrook’s leadership in trauma and critical care
led to the Tory Trauma Program’s verification as a Level 1
trauma centre by the American College of Surgeons — the first
facility outside of the U.S. to earn this esteemed verification.
James on his family farm.
12

TOGETHER, WE ARE PUSHING
BOUNDARIES WITH NEW,
LIFE-SAVING TREATMENTS
Fellows from Sunnybrook’s
Medventions Program with
Dr. Andrew Dueck (second from right).
Fellows fron Sunnybrook's
Medventions team
developed an innovative
radiation shield for
vascular surgery.
From transcatheter valve
implants to coronary
artery bypass grafting, the
Schulich Heart Program is
conducting research on
how surgeons mend hearts
— with a focus on less
invasive techniques and a
goal of more personalized
care that tailors cardiac
surgery to each patient.
Carolyn and her husband Bob.
SCHULICH HEART PROGRAM
1,800 +
angioplasty procedures
performed each year
(more than any other heart
centre in Toronto).
400 +
transcatheter aortic valve
implant (TAVI) procedures
performed each year
(the most in Ontario).
Meet Carolyn.
For Caroyln, innovations in diagnosis and care at Sunnybrook
make all the difference. When it was discovered that she had
suffered a transient ischemic attack (or mini-stroke), Dr. David
Gladstone drew an inspired solution from his cutting-edge
research into how the heart and the brain are connected. He
suggested she wear a heart monitor — which led to a diagnosis
of atrial fibrillation, opening the door for care that would
greatly reduce Carolyn’s chances of another stroke.
This is how Sunnybrook is moving ideas from the research
bench to patient bedside thanks to monthly donors like you.
14

TOGETHER, WE
ARE GIVING FAMILIES
HOPE IN THEIR TOUGHEST
MOMENTS — THANK YOU
Gabriella and her daughter Giovanna.
Meet Gabriella.
Gabriella gave birth to her daughter Giovanna in North
America’s first ever Accessible Care Pregnancy Clinic — right
here at Sunnybrook.
“Everyone took the time to make sure I was comfortable
during ultrasounds,” says Gabriella. “They explored whether I
needed a different position or extra pillows. It was never, ‘We
have to do it this way.’ They focused on what was possible for
me and the additional supports I needed to get there.”
The clinic provides specialized care for women, trans, and
non-binary people with physical disabilities who are pregnant
or contemplating a pregnancy — from family planning
through pregnancy, labour, and the postpartum period.
Today, it is widely regarded as the model for high-quality,
personalized obstetrical care.
More than 200 patients have benefitted from the clinic’s
multidisciplinary approach — a testament to the high
level of expertise and collaboration made possible at
Sunnybrook, and supported by donors like you.
16

YOUR SUPPORT IN ACTION
55,000 +
emergency visits.
Sunnybrook receives
the highest volume
of patients with lifethreatening
cases
in Ontario.
1.7
advanced
stroke patients
treated per day.
39,000 +
rehab
outpatient visits.
3,800 +
babies are
delivered at
Sunnybrook
every year.
Of these, 30%
were high-risk.
Very few places in the world can do what
Sunnybrook does. When you give monthly, you
help Sunnybrook be there when it matters most.
AS A MONTHLY DONOR
• Your monthly gift will be automatically withdrawn from
your credit card or bank account once per month on
either the 15 th or the 30 th .
• You will receive a consolidated annual tax receipt in
February each year.
450 +
Minimally Invasive
Structural Heart
(MISH) procedures
performed.
2,000 +
trauma patients
each year.
CANADA’S FIRST AND LARGEST
TRAUMA CENTRE.
• You will get the latest updates on the innovations in
patient care and research you are supporting.
• You can change your monthly gift at any time by
contacting our donor services team at 416-480-4483 or
by email: monthly@sunnybrook.ca
18

THIS PLACE IS
SPECIAL
Together with donors like you, we are trailblazing the best possible
patient care by providing state-of-the-art equipment, groundbreaking
teaching and education, and research excellence through
our ten primary care program areas.
ODETTE CANCER
PROGRAM
TORY TRAUMA
PROGRAM
SCHULICH HEART
PROGRAM
VETERANS
PROGRAM
HURVITZ BRAIN
SCIENCES PROGRAM
ST. JOHN’S REHAB
PROGRAM
DAN WOMEN AND
BABIES PROGRAM
HOLLAND BONE AND
JOINT PROGRAM
INTEGRATED COMMUNITY
PROGRAM
PRECISION DIAGNOSTICS AND
THERAPEUTICS PROGRAM
Thank you for your incredible support.
We couldn't do what we do without our community of donors.
Sunnybrook Foundation
KGW01–2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON M4N 3M5
Charitable Registration No. 899209118RR0001
Sunnybrook.ca/Foundation
On the cover: James with his wife Yawen Wu and their two children.