Big impact with minimal effort: Gifts of securities

Imagine if you could support your regional hospital through your savvy financial decision-making. That’s the beauty of donating stock—it’s a smart financial move that maximizes your impact while giving you additional tax benefits!

What are gifts of securities?

Gifts of securities are donations of publicly traded appreciated stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or other investment assets. Instead of making a cash donation, individuals transfer ownership of these securities directly to the PRHC Foundation.

What are the benefits of gifts of securities?

By donating appreciated stocks, bonds, or mutual funds directly to the PRHC Foundation, you’ll receive a larger tax credit and receive a charitable tax receipt for the full value of your shares—meaning you may be able to make a larger gift than you could have with a cash donation alone. If you’ve held stocks for some time and the value has appreciated, this form of giving is likely for you!

Plus, when you donate appreciated stocks, you don’t have to pay the capital gains tax that you would have incurred if you sold the asset instead. This means more of your donation goes towards making a difference in the quality of healthcare available at your hospital. You’ll receive a tax receipt for the full market value of the securities, which can be used to further reduce your annual income when filing your taxes.

For more information, please click here or email Lesley Heighway, President & CEO.

Celebrating you on National Philanthropy Day

Today, November 15, is National Philanthropy Day – a day to recognize the charitable activities that make a difference in our community. It’s a time to celebrate the generosity, compassion and commitment of those who give back, those who are “changing the world with their giving hearts”. Philanthropy takes many forms, from donations and volunteer hours to advocacy and acts of kindness. Every contribution makes an impact.

At the Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) Foundation, we’re grateful for your impact. Thank you to everyone who’s reimagining healthcare with their giving hearts, through the Campaign for PRHC!

“Today is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the joy of philanthropy and what our regional community has made possible by reimagining healthcare right here, close to home,” says PRHC Foundation President & CEO Lesley Heighway. “It’s the entire community coming together to make world-class care possible.”

Thank you for demonstrating the incredible difference that can be made when individuals, families, organizations and businesses – a whole regional community – unite in the spirit of giving. Your support is ensuring that PRHC’s doctors, nurses and staff have access to the cutting-edge tools and technology needed to provide exceptional patient care at your regional hospital now and in the future – equipment not funded by the government. You’re fuelling innovation, bringing new lifesaving services to the region, helping PRHC attract the best and brightest experts, and inspiring solutions to critical hospital challenges.

Because of you, we’ve reached 84% of the Campaign for PRHC’s $70 million goal. This milestone reflects the joy of philanthropy, the power of community and what can happen when people come together to change their world with a giving heart.

Thank you! Together, we’re reimagining health and care for our region.

Connect through the Sharing Tree

The Sharing Tree is back for the 2025 holiday season. This special initiative was created to connect our community with PRHC and the $70 million Campaign for PRHC while spreading warmth, gratitude and hope throughout your regional hospital during this meaningful time of year.

When we first launched the Sharing Tree last year, the response was incredible. Donors, patients, doctors, nurses, staff, volunteers and community members came together to share their stories, express their appreciation and offer messages of encouragement. This year, we’re excited to continue the tradition and once again fill the Sharing Tree with notes that inspire and uplift everyone who passes by.

Here’s how it works…

In person:
  • Anyone with a connection to PRHC can write a message, story or note of gratitude on a paper ornament and hang it on the Sharing Tree. You can thank a care provider, share your PRHC story, send well wishes to patients, or simply offer a message of hope for the season.
  • You’ll find the Sharing Tree and a member of our Foundation team in the PRHC lobby every Friday from now until December 12. If you’re visiting the hospital, stop by to say hello and add your message.
Online:
  • For those who can’t visit in person, a digital version of the tree is available here. You can fill out an online form to share your message to our website, which we’ll print and add as a physical ornament to the tree.

Throughout the holiday season, all of the ornaments will end up displayed on the big Christmas tree in PRHC’s lobby, where doctors, nurses, staff, volunteers, patients and visitors can enjoy them all season long. We’ll also be sharing some of your messages on our social media channels throughout the holidays and into the New Year. And don’t be surprised if you spot the Sharing Tree around town as some of our generous business partners are joining in the fun.

The Sharing Tree is a simple but meaningful way to lift spirits, spread joy and remind everyone what community is all about. Join us and help make this season a little brighter through your connection to PRHC.

“If PRHC had a hybrid OR, both of my surgeries could have been done in one day.”

Grateful PRHC vascular care patient and PRHC Foundation donor Mike Leach tells his patient story with the hope that you’ll donate to bring a hybrid operating room to Peterborough Regional Health Centre…

“I’m Mike Leach, and I wouldn’t be here today without PRHC and PRHC Foundation donors.

For a long time, I ignored it. My legs felt heavy. My calves cramped like bricks. Even walking short distances was exhausting.

What started as a small blister turned into a serious diabetic ulcer. I was told that without surgery, I could lose my foot.

At PRHC, my vascular surgeon Dr. Sajjid Hossain performed two separate procedures to restore blood flow in my legs: one to place a stent and another to open blocked arteries. Both surgeries worked, but they had to be done separately.

Two surgeries. Two recoveries. Twice the risk.  

If PRHC had a hybrid operating room, both procedures could have been done at the same time, in the same room, with less risk and a faster recovery.

That’s why I’m asking for your help today.

Your gift will help bring a state-of-the-art hybrid OR to PRHC. With a hybrid OR, procedures will take less time. Patients will face fewer complications and recover faster. And advanced imaging will help experts like Dr. Hossain be even more precise, spotting and managing complications right away, while keeping patients like me close to home.

Thanks to PRHC and donors, I got my independence back. I can work, garden (even if weeds are the only thing I seem to grow), and tinker in the garage. None of this would have been possible without this hospital, or the lifesaving equipment past generosity has supported.

That’s why your support matters so much. Because without your crucial investments in cutting-edge equipment, patients like me could lose more than mobility, we could lose our independence, our livelihoods, even our lives.

Your gift today will help build a hybrid operating room that will transform care for patients like me, reducing risk, shortening recovery, and giving more people in our region the chance to keep living life to the fullest. Especially since the government doesn’t fund hospital equipment. Your generosity is the only way to bring this lifesaving technology to PRHC, and to patients like me.

Thank you.”

To join Mike in donating in support of a hybrid OR, please click here.

Giving options during the Canada Post mail disruption

Through your support of the Campaign for PRHC, we’re transforming patient care by investing in state-of-the-art technology the government doesn’t fund, bringing new lifesaving services to our region, fuelling innovation, and attracting the best and brightest healthcare professionals to PRHC.

During the postal disruption, our commitment to reimagining health and care in our region remains strong. While the uncertainty continues, there are other convenient ways to give.

Please consider making your donation…

  • Online: Click here or on the “Donate Now” menu at the right of our website’s main navigation bar
  • By phone: Call us at 705-876-5000
  • In person: Stop by our offices inside Peterborough Regional Health Centre (come in through the main hospital entrance, pass the cafeteria, and follow the hall to your left to office W4770 next to the main visitor elevators) – we’re here Monday to Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm

Thank you for empowering world-class care, close to home.

Golfing “fore!” PRHC

The PRHC Foundation is pleased to have been chosen as the beneficiary of the second annual Peterborough Mayoral Invitational Charity Golf Tournament, sponsored by Cogeco. This year the tournament will take place Monday, September 8 at Kawartha Golf Club. All proceeds will support the Campaign for PRHC and our commitment to reimagine health and care for patients from across our region. Thank you to the Mayor, tournament organizers and sponsors, Kawartha Golf Club, and all the golfers for your support.

  • Date: Monday, September 8, 2025
  • Location: Kawartha Golf Club – 777 Clonsilla Ave. Peterborough ON K9J 6Z6
  • Registration & Lunch: 11am
  • Call to Carts & Opening Remarks: 12:30pm
  • Shotgun Start: 1pm

To register, learn more or for sponsorship details, please visit the tournament’s website.

Celebrating the opening of the donor-funded Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit Courtyard

On August 6, 2025, donors, community members and the media joined PRHC and the PRHC Foundation to celebrate the opening of the new Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Courtyard. This secure, purpose-built outdoor space is designed to support the recovery and well-being of some of the hospital’s most vulnerable mental health patients.

Made possible by donor generosity, the $1.5 million courtyard is more than a new physical space—it’s a symbol of compassion, community and progress. It’s also one of the early mental health priorities brought to life through the Campaign for PRHC.

“This is a transformative moment for mental health care at PRHC,” says Lesley Heighway, President & CEO of the PRHC Foundation. “The PICU Courtyard changes where and how patients heal. It will support PRHC’s healthcare team in delivering expert, compassionate care.”

Patients in the 6-bed PICU have never had access to the outdoors, even though hospital stays can last weeks or even months. “This secure, outdoor treatment space is not only safe and dignified—it’s healing,” says Jennifer Cox, PRHC’s Director of Mental Health & Addictions. “It allows our patients to engage in mindfulness, movement and connection with others and their environment in ways that improve outcomes and quality of care.”

The new outdoor space has already been recognized as a model for other Ontario hospitals. And the need for such innovation is clear: like hospitals across the country, PRHC has seen a staggering increase in patient volumes. In the last year alone, PRHC experienced more than 31,000 mental health patient visits.

“Thanks to donor support, PICU patients now have access to natural light and fresh air—factors that are proven to improve outcomes, reduce hospital stays, and decrease the need for medications like antidepressants,” says Sean Martin, Vice President of Clinical Services & Health Equity and Chief Quality Officer at PRHC.

The PICU Courtyard has been designed with outdoor therapy in mind, with input from mental health experts, PRHC staff, and the lived experience of volunteer community members. Every detail of the space was chosen with intention:

  • Colourful native vegetation to attract butterflies, a natural aid for mindfulness
  • Seating areas in different configurations that offer patients solitude when they need it and space to visit with care providers and loved ones
  • Open gathering areas for group activities and social connection
  • A shaded area to accommodate those who are sensitive to sunlight due to their treatments
  • A colourful, tactile recreation surface

During the PICU Courtyard celebrations, Lesley also announced a $10 million expansion to the Campaign for PRHC.   

“The hospital has brought forward some additional, extraordinarily visionary, future-focused projects,” she says. “These projects will fundamentally change the way patient care is delivered across all areas of care at PRHC. We’re ready to rise to the occasion once again and we know our incredibly generous community is ready, too.”

The Campaign for PRHC began with a $60 million dollar goal and is now a $70 million campaign. This increase will allow PRHC to move forward with cutting-edge initiatives that directly respond to the specific healthcare needs of our region. One of those bold, innovative projects is a digital command centre.

“It’s still in the early stages of planning,” says Sean. “Once complete, the command centre will be a behind-the-scenes hub that will use real-time data to streamline patient flow, reduce wait times, and improve access to care.”

“This is a bold, transformational project and we’re excited to say, yes, let’s support it,” says Lesley. “Let’s continue to reimagine health and care—just like donors have done through the PICU Courtyard.”

Pictured left to right: (back row) PRHC VP Finance & Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer Jen Taylor, PRHC Outpatient Mental Health Manager Miriam McCann, PRHC Mental Health & Addictions Chief & Medical Director Dr. Raj Basker, PRHC PICU Manager Dakota Forsyth, PRHC Foundation President & CEO Lesley Heighway; (front row) PRHC Director of Mental Health & Addictions Jennifer Cox, PRHC RN Erica Earl, PRHC RN Shayne Luangvisa.

Limited edition Lakers sunglasses in support of PRHC

As part of the Peterborough Century 21 Lakers’ partnership with the PRHC Foundation for the 2025 Major Series Lacrosse season, the Lakers are selling limited edition sunglasses with all proceeds in support of the Campaign for PRHC. 

The Campaign for PRHC publicly launched in 2024 with $52.9 million raised to date. The goal is to help PRHC invest in state-of-the-art technology, bring new lifesaving services to our region, fuel innovation, and attract the best and brightest healthcare professionals. The Lakers are enthusiastic campaign ambassadors. “The Lakers are all about community, and it doesn’t get more ‘community’ than supporting the doctors, nurses and staff at our regional hospital,” says Lakers board member Len Powers. “PRHC is where our families turn in moments of greatest need and the Lakers are excited to rally around the Campaign for PRHC and support our regional hospital.”

Players, staff and board members have been seen sporting their own shiny red shades this season and now fans can get their own pair for $10 from the Petes Store at the Peterborough Memorial Centre or the PRHC Foundation Gift Shop inside PRHC. Let’s go Lakers!