$60M donation to fund new patient tower at St. Joseph's Health Centre

A record-breaking $60 million donation to St. Joseph's Health Centre in Toronto's west end will go towards building a new patient tower, the hospital says.

The donation by Peter Gilgan, founder and CEO of Mattamy Asset Management, is the largest in the centre's history, according to the hospital's chair, Diane Kazarian.

At a news conference Tuesday morning, Gilgan said the hospital is far beyond its "best before date" and that he hopes his donation will create a "ripple effect," motivating others to engage in philanthropy. 

"Simply, if you don't have health, you don't have anything worthwhile going on in your life. You can be the smartest person in the world, the richest person in the world, the most beautiful person in the world, whatever. But if you're sick, it's worth nothing," he said.

Mayor Olivia Chow called it a "record-breaking gift, transforming and re-imagining the very place he was born" at the news conference.

"Good food, good housing, good health care. Peter gets what makes families strong, makes our community strong, makes our city and Ontario strong," she said.

The new patient tower will be located on the southeast corner of the property, Tim Rutledge told CBC Toronto. Rutledge is CEO at Unity Health Toronto, the hospital network that includes St. Joseph's Health Centre. 

It is set to include an expanded emergency room, a modern surgical centre with 13 new operating rooms, more intensive care units and over 300 private patient rooms with bathrooms.

Two floors of the new patient tower will be dedicated to mental health care. Premier Doug Ford highlighted St. Joseph's Health Centre's role in opening the first youth mental health care unit.

"I don't know anyone else that gives back more to the community, more to health care than Peter," Ford said at the news conference.

Rutledge said the hospital serves 500,000 people and is currently struggling to keep up with the demands of a growing population.

"This marks a turning point, not only for the west end, but for how community health care can evolve across Canada," he said.

Gilgan has now donated over $100 million in total to Unity Health Toronto.

He said his family inspires him to make donations, noting his personal connection with the hospital. Gilgan and his six siblings were born at St. Joseph's Health Centre..

"St. Joe's does a great job of making do with things," Gilgan said. "And now they're going to have a lot more to make things a lot better for this community."

Ontario's Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said this donation would help connect more people to more convenient care.

"Your donation will continue to touch people's lives each and every day, helping to transform patient care and connect countless people and their families to world class care for generations to come," she said.

The centre is set to be named after Gilgan, to honour the donation.