Landmark $15 million gift to reshape emergency medicine
Toronto - Mount Sinai Hospital is pleased to announce that Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman have made a transformational $15 million gift that will see the significant physical expansion of the Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Centre (the hospital’s emergency department) and a first-of-its-kind research institute that will drive new knowledge and innovation in the field of emergency medicine. This landmark investment will reshape the way care is delivered at Mount Sinai Hospital and throughout the health-care sector. The gift follows previous gifts totalling $13 million, bringing their total investment in Mount Sinai to $28 million.
Launching the Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Medicine Institute: The first of its kind in North America, the Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Medicine Institute will propel research, education and policy development in the field of emergency medicine. The Institute will support clinicians/researchers in examining clinically diverse emergency medicine issues such as: decision making in the emergency setting; improving accuracy and efficiency of diagnosis and treatment; emergency care of emerging infectious diseases and antibiotic resistant organisms; the unique needs of seniors; and optimizing patient flow and experience. The Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Medicine Institute will identify and implement best practices in emergency care, and develop education modules to export new knowledge throughout Ontario, Canada and internationally. North York General Hospital has confirmed its status as the first partner in this innovative and collaborative effort, and discussions with other GTA hospitals are currently underway.
Doubling the size of Mount Sinai’s Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Centre: The expansion of Mount Sinai’s Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Centre to 28,100 sq.ft. will enable Mount Sinai to accommodate expected growth in emergency patient volume from 56,000 to an estimated 80,000 annually over the next few years. The new centre will encompass half of the main floor of the hospital and will be anchored in a patient and family-centred design with an emphasis on infection control, patient flow and leading-edge technology.
L-R: Jay Hennick, Chair of the Board of Directors, Mount Sinai Hospital, Joseph Mapa, President and CEO, Mount Sinai Hospital, Heather Reisman, Brent Belzberg, Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation Management Board & Governing Council Chairman, and Gerald Schwartz.
Photo credit: Arthur Mola
Mount Sinai already has established regional and national leadership in emergency medicine, achieving the best combined wait time scores of any academic hospital in the province, despite increasing volumes and complexity of patients. Dr. Howard Ovens, the hospital’s Director of Emergency Medicine, serves as the Ontario Expert Lead in Emergency Medicine.
Today’s gift announcement is part of the $500 million Campaign to Renew Sinai, the largest campaign in the hospital’s history, that will see the transformation of its facilities and growth of its internationally recognized clinical and research programs. Mount Sinai acknowledges and thanks the Government of Ontario as a proud partner in the Renew Sinai effort.
Mr. Schwartz and Ms. Reisman have been long-serving volunteers and philanthropic leaders at Mount Sinai and are both members of the hospital’s board of directors. In 1999, the Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Centre was named in recognition of a major philanthropic gift made at that time.
Quotes:
“We are both incredibly proud to be associated with the excellent patient care delivered at Mount Sinai every day. The hospital’s emergency department has particular significance for us because it is the gateway for so many people in our community to access care at our great hospital,” said Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman.
“This extraordinary gift will not only allow us to better serve the patients who come through our doors every day with better facilities, it will also allow us, through research, to discover more effective and efficient ways of delivering care. Combining initiatives in education, knowledge translation and related efforts, we will add a level of thought leadership to the field that will have wide impact on patient care,” said Dr. Howard Ovens, Director of Mount Sinai’s Schwartz/Reisman Emergency Centre and Provincial Lead in Emergency Medicine.
“Gerry Schwartz and Heather Reisman have both been exemplary leaders at Mount Sinai. As board members and donors, they engage in every aspect of our vision with brilliant strategic insight and a generosity that has defined their role as philanthropic leaders in this country,” said Jay Hennick, Chair of the Board of Directors, Mount Sinai Hospital.
“Emergency Medicine is a strategic priority for Mount Sinai, and we would not have been able to achieve our outstanding results without Gerry and Heather’s incredible commitment, insight and investment into this area of care over the years,” said Joseph Mapa, President and CEO, Mount Sinai Hospital.
“When Gerry and Heather made their first transformational gift fourteen years ago to name our emergency department, they sent a strong message to the philanthropic community about the standard of care being delivered at Mount Sinai. I have no doubt that today’s gift will further inspire other donors to join them in supporting our ambitious plans for our great hospital,” said Brent Belzberg, Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation Management Board & Governing Council Chairman, who also co-chairs the Hospital’s Renew Sinai Campaign.
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For more information, please contact:
Sally Szuster
Senior Manager, Communications and Public Affairs
Mount Sinai Hospital
Telephone: 416-586-4800 ext. 8713
Email: [email protected]
Riva Finkelstein
Senior Specialist, Media Relations and Public Affairs
Mount Sinai Hospital
Telephone: 416-586-4800 ext. 8306
Email: [email protected]
