Special Delivery: Your Donations Helped St. Joe’s Buy a New Surgical Robot!

It’s arrived! After a 24-month fundraising campaign that saw our generous community donate more than $5.5 million to this exciting project, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton just purchased the newest and most advanced surgical robot in the world: the da Vinci Xi. And it’s thanks to the generous support we received from donors and friends like YOU! Just last week, the robot arrived at our Hospital and we put together a time-elapsed video of its unboxing. Click on the image above to watch it!

In 2012, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton was one of the first hospitals in Canada to purchase the da Vinci Si robotic system thanks to the leadership and support of the Boris Family. Since then, we’ve performed over 2,600 surgeries and both our surgeons and our patients report that robotic-assisted surgeries are less painful, promote faster healing, result in less blood loss and fewer days spent in Hospital, too. Not only that, a recent study by St. Joe’s surgeons and researchers shows that robotic surgery for prostate cancer patients is cost-effective. We’re continuing to work with government and key stakeholders to advocate for funding robotic-assisted surgery.

We remain truly grateful to each and every one of the donors who make it possible for us to explore all that robotic surgery can do to help patients living with cancers of the lung, prostate, kidney, bladder, head and neck. We’re already planning some very special ways to recognize and thank our robotic surgery supporters in the coming weeks and months, and we look forward to sharing those with you very soon. While the new robot has arrived, and we’re immensely grateful, there continues to be a need to raise funds for the cost of the sterile robotic instruments needed for every surgery we perform as well as support for robotic surgery research that will create a healthier future for all of us. Stay tuned for more robotic surgery updates coming soon from St. Joe’s!

Learn more about robotic surgery at St. Joe's.

Special Invitation: Join Us for A Mental Health Morning

On Oct. 7, former Barenaked Ladies singer and songwriter, Steven Page, will join St. Joseph’s Healthcare Foundation, online, for A Mental Health Morning, presented by ArcelorMittal Dofasco.

Now in its eighth year, this morning event aims to eradicate the stigma that surrounds mental illness while raising funds to support the mental health and addictions program at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. This year, to protect the health of our community, we’ve transitioned to an online format. And, in light of the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the mental health of all Canadians, with the support of our event sponsors, we’ve made individual event registrations complimentary—so that everyone can take a moment to care for their own wellbeing.

As you enjoy the show and the presentation of the Spirit of Hope Awards, we invite you to consider making a voluntary donation to support the leading-edge mental health and addictions care St. Joe’s is honoured to provide. We’re proud to say that more than 850 people have already signed up to take part in this important conversation, and we hope that you, as a valued friend of St. Joe’s, will join us too.

Special Thanks for Your Support of our Fall Events:

Shoppers LOVE. YOU. Run for Women:

YOU’RE UNSTOPPABLE! And we’re so grateful. Because of you, the Hamilton virtual Run for Women, brought to you by the LOVE. YOU. Program at Shoppers Drug Mart, was SOLD OUT! Between Sept. 17 - 27, 950 walkers and runners took part in a 5k or 10k route of their choice while raising funds to support women’s mental health and addiction programs and services at St. Joe’s.

Thanks to the efforts of so many people, including our community fundraising champion, Erin Dunham and her team, the Bi-polar Bears, over $98,000 was raised to help our Women’s Health Concerns Clinic, Youth Wellness Centre, Seniors Mental Health Clinic and Womankind Addiction Services teams to continue caring for the mental health of women of all ages across our region.Thank you to everyone who took part in this virtual event, who made a donation to support a walker or runner, or who made a gift at the checkout of their local Shoppers Drug Mart store.  

A Message of Real Gratitude Following our Virtual Gala

On Saturday, Sept. 19, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Foundation endeavoured to bring all the glamour of the St. Joe’s gala to the doorsteps and devices of our guests with our first ever online celebration: Virtually Yours in Hope, Health & Gratitude. Thanks to our gala celebration boxes complete with contactless delivery, our online silent, vintage wine and equipment auctions, and an interactive virtual event space, that night, while we may have been separated by circumstance, we were united in our support for St. Joe’s.

Together with over 350 registered participants, we paid tribute to our heroes of healthcare while raising more than $340,000 for our Hospital. With those funds, we’ll soon purchase six vital sign monitors for babies in our special care nursery, provide funding for personal protective equipment and supplies at the Hospital, and help to expand and renew our emergency mental health service at the Charlton Campus.

We extend our heart-felt gratitude to our presenting sponsor, CARSTAR and to the gala committee, led by event co-chairs Daniela and Michael Macaluso. We’d also like to thank our other 28 generous gala sponsors, and the numerous donors and bidders in our silent, vintage wine and equipment auctions for their unwavering support. If you missed the event but would like to view our evening program online, just click here!