Pictured: the Orchid Women's Health Initiative team. Top row: Jennifer Auld, Vicki Rafuse, Charlene Corkum, Alana Gammon, Allyson Watson & Sheri Morgan. Bottom row: Lisa Gallivan, Julie Metlege, Liz Rigney.
HOW THE ORCHID WOMEN’S HEALTH INITIATIVE IS TRANSFORMING WOMEN’S CANCER CARE
What started as a tribute to one extraordinary woman has become a powerful movement transforming health care for women across Nova Scotia.
When Deanne Reeve passed away in 2020 following a late diagnosis of cervical cancer, her closest friends knew they wanted to do something meaningful in her memory. Their determination to help ensure other women have access to the care, technology and treatment they need sparked the creation of the Orchid Women’s Health Initiative (OWHI).
Today, that vision has grown into one of Nova Scotia’s most impactful fundraising initiatives for women’s health — raising more than $3.1 million net since 2023 and bringing together a passionate group of women committed to changing what’s possible for women’s health care.
And they’re just getting started.
A SOLD-OUT NIGHT WITH LASTING IMPACT
On Saturday, October 24, 2026, the Orchid Women’s Health Initiative will welcome hundreds of supporters to the sold-out Orchid Gala, presented by TD, at Steele Wheels Motor Museum.
Held annually in support of women’s health initiatives in Nova Scotia, the Orchid Gala brings together community leaders, philanthropists, healthcare teams and passionate supporters for an unforgettable evening of inspiration and impact.
This year’s event will feature gourmet dining, inspiring speakers, exclusive auction experiences and special entertainment — all in support of advancing women’s health care across our province.
For the second consecutive year, proceeds from the Orchid Gala will support the QEII Foundation and help fuel a leading-edge advancement in gynecologic cancer care at the QEII Health Sciences Centre.
FROM SURGICAL PRECISION TO PERSONALIZED CANCER CARE
The impact of this partnership with the QEII Foundation can already be seen in the QEII’s operating rooms. In 2025, Orchid Gala supporters raised a record-breaking $1.9 million net to help bring the QEII’s newest and most advanced surgical robot, the da Vinci Xi, to life.
Now in use at the QEII, the da Vinci Xi is expanding access to minimally invasive, robot-assisted surgery for women with gynecologic cancers. For eligible patients, this gold standard approach can often mean smaller incisions, less pain, fewer complications, shorter hospital stays and faster recoveries.
For Dr. Stephanie Scott, Division Head of Gynecologic Oncology at the QEII, the impact extends far beyond the technology itself.
“The generosity behind last year’s Orchid Gala is having a direct impact on the women we care for. The da Vinci Xi is helping us expand access to minimally invasive surgery and provide more women with advanced treatment options, right here at home,” says Dr. Scott. “For someone facing a gynecologic cancer, recovering sooner and getting back to their family and their life faster is incredibly meaningful. We’re so grateful to the Orchid Women’s Health Initiative and everyone who rallied behind this technology.”
This year, the Orchid Women’s Health Initiative is taking aim at another critical opportunity: helping make cancer treatment even more personalized.
Pictured above: Dr. Stephanie Scott with the QEII’s da Vinci Xi robot.
UNLOCKING THE INFORMATION HIDDEN INSIDE A TUMOUR
No two cancers are exactly alike and, increasingly, cancer treatment isn’t either. That’s why funds raised through the 2026 Orchid Gala will help advance access to comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) and homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) testing for gynecologic cancers.
In simple terms, CGP gives cancer care teams a much more detailed look at the genetic makeup of a patient’s tumour. Using a single tissue sample, advanced sequencing technology can analyze hundreds of genes at once, helping uncover the specific mutations and characteristics driving an individual patient’s cancer.
For women facing ovarian and endometrial cancers, that information can be especially powerful.
CGP will enable QEII teams to perform comprehensive testing of endometrial cancers, including assessment of POLE, a gene that is not currently evaluated locally. These results can provide care teams with valuable information about how a cancer is likely to respond to treatment — helping them determine whether chemotherapy or another treatment approach may be more appropriate.
For some women, that could mean avoiding chemotherapy that is unlikely to benefit them — and the significant side effects that come with it — while still receiving effective cancer treatment.
“Similarly, CGP will allow the QEII to identify which ovarian cancers are HRD, often caused by a mutation in BRCA1, and thereby suggest highly effective, targeted therapies for these patients,” says Dr. Michael Carter, an anatomical and molecular pathologist and Medical Director of the QEII's Molecular Diagnostics Lab.
As Dr. Carter explains, these insights also help direct appropriate patients to medical genetics if there is a risk they have a hereditary cancer syndrome.
“Having access to this level of genomic information — and the ability to generate it right here at the QEII — has the potential to transform how we approach treatment for certain women with gynecologic cancers,” says Dr. Carter. “Comprehensive genomic profiling is a powerful precision oncology tool that can give cancer care teams critical information to help guide more personalized treatment decisions for their patients.”
And, as Dr. Scott shares, by bringing this testing capability to the QEII it means more testing can happen closer to home, which can help lower healthcare costs and speed up the time it takes for care teams and patients to receive critical answers.
“Our gynecologic oncology team is proud and grateful to partner with the Orchid Women’s Health Initiative once again to help bring this kind of personalized cancer care to our patients – it’s incredibly exciting,” says Dr. Scott.
Pictured above: Some members of the Orchid Women’s Health Initiative (pink scrubs) with gynecologic oncology surgeons, Dr. Karla Willows and Dr. Stephanie Scott.
WOMEN CREATING CHANGE FOR WOMEN
Behind the Orchid Gala is a powerhouse team of women who have refused to accept the status quo.
Jennifer Auld, Charlene Corkum, Lisa Gallivan, Alana Gammon, Julie Metlege, Sheri Morgan, Vicki Rafuse, Liz Rigney and Allyson Watson each bring their own experience, expertise and passion to the Orchid Women’s Health Initiative — united by a shared determination to improve health care for women today and for generations to come.
Their work is helping change the conversation around women’s health while creating tangible change within hospitals across the province.
From advanced surgical robotics to the genetic information helping guide a woman’s individual cancer treatment, the Orchid Women’s Health Initiative is truly moving the needle in women’s health care — one bold investment at a time.
And at the heart of it all remains the legacy of the woman who inspired it. Today, Deanne Reeve’s legacy lives on in the care of thousands of women across Nova Scotia — women she never had the chance to meet or know, but whose lives and futures are being changed by what her closest friends created in her honour.
The 2026 Orchid Gala is sold out, but the opportunity to make an impact has never been greater. Click here to bid on exclusive and exceptional experiences, packages and unique items, with all proceeds helping transform cancer care for women receiving treatment at the QEII. Bid big for women’s health >>
