A word from the QEII Foundation
This year the QEII Foundation and the QEII Health Sciences Centre are celebrating 30 years of changing and saving lives.
The QEII’s story actually starts much earlier, in 1859, when the Halifax City Hospital first opened on the current Victoria General site. Over the next century, health care in our city continued to grow and evolve. Then in 1996, several major facilities came together to form what we now know as the QEII. And the QEII Foundation was born.
Just a year later, in 1997, the QEII Foundation launched its very first fundraising campaign, focused on cancer care. One of the early milestones was the purchase of the QEII’s first CT simulator — technology that helps map tumours and plan precise radiation treatment.
Today, the QEII is the largest adult health sciences centre in Atlantic Canada. It provides urgent and emergency care close to home, while also delivering highly specialized care in areas like heart health, cancer, neurosurgery and organ transplantation. It’s also a hub for research and a training ground for the next generation of healthcare professionals.
For three decades, the QEII Foundation has been transforming health care, thanks to the generosity of donors across our region and beyond. With more than $360 million raised and counting, the QEII Foundation continues to inspire generosity through our many programs and initiatives, including the QEII Home Lottery and BMO Ride for Cancer.
As health care continues to change, so do we.
In January 2022, the QEII Foundation publicly launched our We Are campaign to elevate health care at and through the QEII. With our sights set on a $100-million goal, the campaign is focused on projects that can make a real difference right now.
Reducing wait times. Increasing access to care. Introducing new technology. Offering more personalized treatments. Finding ways to innovate. These were just a few of the bars we set as indicators of success.
We’ve funded 32 life-changing projects to date, impacting thousands of patients and their families. And we’re not done yet.
As we continue to fund critical equipment, research and programs — from surgical robotics to minimally invasive cardiac care — we’re proud to celebrate how far we’ve come and are excited about where we’re headed next.
If you’d like to join us on our mission to advance care at the QEII for Atlantic Canadians, visit QE2Foundation.ca.
QEII FOUNDATION: 30 YEARS OF DONOR IMPACT
A SELECTION OF OUR MILESTONE
Veterans Memorial Garden opened at the QEII’s Camp Hill Veterans Memorial Building. Today, donors continue to support this safe outdoor space for residents to enjoy, socialize and be active outdoors.
Through the $43.5-million Working Miracles campaign, donors helped bring Nova Scotia’s only PET-CT for detecting cancers to the QEII. It was replaced in 2020 with a donor-funded, advanced PET-CT with extended field-of-view, detecting smaller traces of cancer than ever before.
Donors supported the first of eight endowed research chairs in areas of cancer care, heart health, transplantation, orthopaedics, arthritis, and mental health.
The Charles V. Keating Emergency and Trauma Centre opened with support from QEII Foundation donors, providing advanced emergent care to Halifax and trauma care for Nova Scotians.
The $20-million expansion to the cancer centre, the James and Edna Claydon Radiation Treatment Clinic, jointly funded by government and QEII Foundation donors, transformed the care journey for patients receiving radiation therapy at the QEII.
A world-leading automated lab track system was installed at the QEII. With $1.1 million from the QEII Foundation, this first-in-North America system revolutionized how blood and other specimens are tested, helping patients get their results sooner.
Atlantic Canada’s first surgical robot arrived at the QEII thanks to funding from forward-thinking donors. The daVinci X robot was the first of seven surgical robots at the QEII – six of them donor funded.
The donor-funded Text4Support e-mental health program launched, providing additional supports for people accessing mental health services in Nova Scotia, followed by Text4HopeNS in 2023, providing mental health support to Nova Scotians impacted by the devastating wildfires.
The QEII became the first hospital in Canada to obtain images on an Ethos therapy system equipped with new HyperSight™ imaging technology. This donor-funded innovative technology and its accompanying research may mean fewer radiation treatments, better cancer outcomes, reduced side effects, more time at home with family, and reduced financial burden on patients and the healthcare system.
The province’s first transportable MRI started receiving patients at the Bayers Lake Community Outpatient Centre, improving access for patients.
The QEII Foundation Health Equity Fund was awarded to its first two recipients. This fund, supported by generous donors, provides grants to healthcare leaders and researchers who are advancing health equity for Nova Scotians.
