Happy Doctors’ Day!

To all doctors, thank you for being here for us when it matters most! On this National Physicians’ Day – and every day – we’re grateful for the compassionate care you provide to patients from all across our region.

The expert work you do inspires donations in your honour to the PRHC Foundation to help you care for other patients. They fund state-of-the-art technology, fuel innovation, bring new services to our region, and in turn help the hospital attract more colleagues to join you at PRHC. Many donations include notes of appreciation that we love sharing with you all year long through the Foundation’s Grateful Heart tribute program.

In honour of Doctors’ Day, check out our video for a collection of some of the wonderful Grateful Heart messages received this year.

Tim Hortons Smile Cookie is back at PRHC May 1-7!

Get ready for Smile Cookie at a new time of year!

Tim Hortons Smile Cookie returns to the PRHC cafeteria Compass Canada Tim Hortons May 1-7 and we’re so grateful to be the charity of choice for this yummy event! 100% of proceeds from PRHC Compass Canada Tim Hortons Smile Cookie sales will be donated to help fund the equipment and technology used every day at Peterborough Regional Health Centre. 

Thanks to Retail Manager Warren Andrews and his team for all the work they do every year to make this fundraiser such a success and thanks to all the PRHC Smile Cookie fans for their support!

Welcome back the birds with an Enzo original

Are you dreaming of spring? Generous, local cork bird house builder Enzo Curcio is! So he’s created another fundraiser in support of the PRHC Foundation and patient care at Peterborough Regional Health Centre. Now you too can be ready to welcome back the birds this spring with an Enzo original: Bird houses can be ordered until April 30th by email (pick-up to be arranged). Two sizes are available: small for $35 and large for $40.

All proceeds will be donated to the PRHC Foundation – helping to fund technology, fuel innovation and bring new services to our region. Thank you, Enzo and everyone who supports his fundraisers!

Requesting a consolidated or duplicate 2022 charitable donation receipt

Blue heart icon with hospital icon inside

To support our donors in preparing their taxes in good time, the PRHC Foundation is now preparing consolidated charitable donation receipts for 2022, and will have these in the mail no later than February 28, 2023. Please allow 10 days for Canada Post delivery; however, if you’re expecting a consolidated receipt and haven’t received it by March 11, please give us a call at 705-876-5000 or send us an email.

If you were previously issued a charitable donation receipt for 2022 and are requesting a duplicate, please provide us with your full name, mailing address, and the amount of the donation made to the PRHC Foundation in 2022. We’ll reissue your receipt and get it in the mail to you within 10 business days.

Cobourg resident was first patient at PRHC to receive new cancer treatment

Grateful patient Stuart Morley stands in front of the hospital

Two years ago, Cobourg resident Stuart Morley became the first PRHC patient to receive life-changing cancer treatment by interventional radiology radiofrequency ablation for a tumour on his kidney.

The amateur photographer tells how interventional radiologist Dr. Kebby King put a metal probe through a small cut in his skin and using a CT to guide her, found the tumour and dissolved it with radio waves. “It was amazing. I felt no pain and I was able to go home later that afternoon,” he says. “Now I’m back taking photos and looking forward to travelling the world again.”

Interventional radiology is often described as ‘the future of medicine.’ It’s used to diagnose and treat a wide range of emergency and chronic health conditions such as cancer and other illnesses, with less pain and risk, and shorter hospital stays.

Grateful for the great care he received and determined to help pave the way for new ground-breaking therapies to be offered at PRHC in the near future, Stuart donated to the PRHC Foundation.

He knows the need for interventional radiology is growing in our region. A $6 million investment in state-of-the-art equipment, upgraded suites, and an expanded recovery room are essential to meeting that need – so more patients, with more complex conditions can be diagnosed and treated close to home.

For more information on this exciting investment, please click here.

An update on PRHC: Realizing a truly regional health centre

A doctor performs a minimally invasive interventional radiology procedure.

Our donors often tell us that Peterborough Regional Health Centre sometimes feels like two hospitals in one. On one hand, they say the personalized, compassionate care provided today by PRHC’s healthcare professionals reminds them of the hospitals where their children were born.

On the other hand, the outstanding calibre of care, sheer scope of service, continuous introduction of new and innovative treatment options, and arrival of world-class experts, tells a different story.

We’re not just Peterborough’s hospital anymore. And that’s good news for everyone.

Becoming a Hub Hospital

The PRHC of 2022 is a significant player in provincial healthcare delivery. A fully regional health centre with an annual operating budget of $320 million, PRHC now supports regional referrals from five smaller partner hospitals within our catchment area, including Ross Memorial Hospital, Campbellford Memorial Hospital, Northumberland Hills Hospital, Minden Hospital, and Haliburton Highlands Hospital.

In fact, PRHC was recently designated by Ontario Health East, our regional health authority, as a fully integrated “hub” for care, similar to Kingston General Hospital, Lakeridge Health, and Scarborough Health Network. That means our hospital is now a peer of GTA facilities like North York General, Humber River Hospital, and Southlake Regional Health Centre.

These leaps forward did not happen by chance. They were realized thanks to the world-class care being provided by an outstanding healthcare team – care made possible by the state-of-the-art tools they’re able to use every day thanks to donor investments.

Accolades and Adversity

We’re very proud of the care being delivered at PRHC. This spring, the hospital achieved the highest possible Accreditation Canada results, receiving the designation “Accredited with Exemplary Standing” for the second time in a row.

Recently, PRHC was also awarded Stroke Distinction in Acute and Inpatient Rehabilitation Stroke Services by Accreditation Canada for the second time, indicating national leadership in the provision of high-quality stroke care.

These accolades would be amazing accomplishments in a normal year. They’re nothing short of exceptional during an ongoing crisis.

PRHC’s leadership and staff continue to respond to the tremendous challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. They’re also working hard to address the difficulties presented by the current healthcare human resources crisis, rising wait times, and external issues like the ongoing shortage of family doctors.

Donors are helping shoulder these burdens, giving PRHC’s healthcare professionals hope that with donor support, we can meet any challenges that come our way.

At the same time, we’re keeping our eye on the future. The need for care in our region is only increasing as our population grows and ages. We can’t lose sight of the investments that must be made now in order to respond to future needs.

Interventional Radiology: Tiny incisions with extraordinary impact

Interventional radiology is used to diagnose and treat a wide range of emergency and chronic health conditions – without major surgery. Because it involves only a small incision and no general anesthetic, it results in less pain and shorter hospital stays.

To treat a much wider range of patient conditions and to pave the way for new, lifesaving therapies in the near future, we’re working with donors to invest $6 million into expanding PRHC’s two existing Interventional Radiology suites, building a new step-down unit, and furnishing all with the latest technology.

Cancer Care: Expert treatment, compassionate care

With your support, we’re also investing $13 million in excellence in cancer care so we can serve more patients, support earlier diagnosis, and ensure safer and more effective treatments. This includes technology like a second MRI, to allow for an additional 5,000 procedures a year (representing a 53% growth in volume), so our oncologists can help more cancer patients who have no time to wait.

A Bold Vision

PRHC has a bold vision for the future: to be the go-to large acute care hospital for patients between Kingston and the GTA. But to get there, we need you by our side.

We hope you’ll consider supporting our hospital this holiday season. Together, we’ll shape the future of healthcare in our region.

Community events helping to fund world-class cancer care

Group of Dragon Boat paddlers with giant cheque

Through your support of incredible community events like Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival, Couture Candy’s recent sweet treat fundraiser and the upcoming “Cancer Takedown 2022”, you’re investing in world-class cancer care at PRHC, helping your hospital to serve more patients, support earlier diagnosis, and ensure safer and more effective treatments.

This includes investments like a second MRI, to allow for an additional 5,000 procedures a year (representing a 53% growth in volume), and robotic preparation of chemotherapy medications – the same chemotherapy preparation system found at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and the next logical step for our Centre of Excellence for Cancer Care.

Last month, Peterborough’s Dragon Boat Festival announced that they beat their goal and raised an amazing $202,268.41! And just recently, the team at Couture Candy PTBO donated a spectacular $16,700 raised through “Supporting Cancer Care is Sweet”!

Next, local celebrities Kate Suhr, Melissa Payne, Linda Kash, Megan Murphy and friends will present “Cancer Takedown 2022”. Please join them November 16 at Market Hall for an evening of song, story and solidarity in support of cancer care at PRHC. Tickets are available by phone at 705-775-1503, at the Market Hall box office (140 Charlotte Street – 3rd floor, Monday-Friday 12-5pm), or online.

Because of the inspiring hard work and generosity of event organizers and the participation of wonderful people like you, cancer patients from across our region can receive the expert, specialized care they need, close to home – instead of having to travel. Thank you!

New interventional oncology treatments pushing the envelope on cancer care treatment at PRHC

Doctor and nurse in surgery

Dr. Kebby King has been providing minimally invasive care to patients in the donor-funded interventional radiology suites at Peterborough Regional Health Centre for 14 years. During that time she’s seen a lot of innovation in her field – making interventional radiology a broad specialty that can be used to diagnose and treat patients with a variety of medical conditions.

One area that has shown a lot of innovation in the application of interventional radiology is cancer care. Known as interventional oncology, this sub-specialty can be used to treat a variety of cancers and cancer-related disease – including kidney tumours, some types of pancreatic cancers, primary liver tumours, and cancer spread to the liver from the colon, pancreas and breast, to name a few – often allowing patients with cancer more time to live their lives.

“Interventional oncology has revolutionized cancer treatment,” says Dr. King. That’s because traditional cancer care involves administering chemotherapy medication to the entire body. For PRHC cancer patients who are candidates for interventional radiology, Dr. King and her colleagues perform very targeted treatments, using catheters and wires guided through tiny incisions in the skin and blood vessels, to focus precisely on the cancer.

“We’re able to specifically target the cancer,” explains Dr. King. “Either by delivering a higher dose of drugs to the target or by performing ablation or microwave therapy to kill the tumour directly.”

“We’re bombarding the cancer with all the good stuff to try to stem its spread and growth,” she says. “And because it’s so targeted, it has fewer side effects for the patient and it can be done on an outpatient basis.” Performed without the large incisions and associated risks of open surgery, it also means less pain and recovery time for patients.

This level of advanced and complex healthcare is available in the Peterborough region as a direct result of our generous donors. But PRHC’s interventional radiology suites are now 14 years old and are too small to fit new, advanced technology and the number of medical personnel required to use it. 

Your donations now will help shape the future of interventional radiology at PRHC. You’ll enable a $6 million upgrade and expansion of the interventional radiology facilities, including state-of-the-art equipment. With this essential upgrade, Dr. King and her colleagues will be able to perform more innovative and complex, minimally invasive procedures right here, so patients can receive the best care, close to home.

For more information or to support this exciting investment, please visit prhcfoundation.ca or call 705-876-5000.