Cha-ching: RBC gifts $2.25M to Ottawa Hospital

Donation to support education and skills development for health care professionals

Ottawa Hospital
Marjolaine Hudon, right, regional president of RBC, with The Ottawa Hospital Foundation's chair, Janet McKeage, on stage for a group unveiling of RBC's $2.25-million gift to The Ottawa Hospital's Campaign to Create Tomorrow. Photo by Caroline Phillips
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RBC skipped the ATM machine and went straight to cutting a big cheque when it came to announcing its $2.25-million gift for The Ottawa Hospital earlier today.

The gift is the bank’s largest ever made to the Ottawa region. It also marks the most generous donation from a financial institution to The Ottawa Hospital.

“This is to support our health care professionals,” RBC regional president Marjolaine Hudon said on stage as she flipped over the presentation cheque to reveal the seven-figure number, joined by RBC president and CEO David McKay, The Ottawa Hospital’s president and CEO, Cameron Love, its foundation president and CEO, Tim Kluke, its fundraising campaign’s volunteer chairman, business leader Roger Greenberg, and Janet McKeage, board chair of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation.

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The $2.25 million is being directed toward the expansion of the RBC Simulation Training and Resources Supports (STARS) program for young health care professionals. The funds will help to upskill employees and to support their wellness.

From left, RBC president and CEO David McKay, The Ottawa Hospital Foundation president and CEO Tim Kluke, The Ottawa Hospital president and CEO Cameron Love, Campaign to Create Tomorrow chairman Roger Greenberg, The Ottawa Hospital Foundation board chair Janet McKeage and RBC regional president Marjolaine Hudon at the National Arts Centre on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, for the unveiling of RBC’s $2.25-million gift. Photo by Caroline Phillips

The announcement was made in the scenic O’Born Room of the National Arts Centre, where Hudon is a board member of the NAC Foundation. More than 150 people turned out to show their support, including business and community leaders.

Volunteers from the hospital foundation board included Brian Cook (Brookfield Renewable), Kevin Ford (Calian Group), Mark Noonan (Deloitte), Nadir Patel (Norton Rose Fulbright LLP), Emily Segal (Longwood Psychology), as well as former foundation board members Greg Kane and Whitney Fox, the latter of whom is on the fundraising campaign executive with fellow attendee Jeff York, a prominent Ottawa businessman and investor.

Funds raised from the $500-million Campaign to Create Tomorrow, launched in April 2022, are being directed toward the new $2.8-billion campus The Ottawa Hospital is building near Carling Avenue and Preston Street. The world-class facility is expected to be completed for 2028.

From left, Campaign to Create Tomorrow campaign executive volunteers Jeff York and Whitney Fox with Calian Group CEO Kevin Ford, a member of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation board, at RBC’s unveiling of its $2.25-million gift for The Ottawa Hospital. Photo by Caroline Phillips
From left, Deloitte vice chair and partner Mark Noonan, a member of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation board, with Kelly Goulet, associate vice president of philanthropy for The Ottawa Hospital Foundation, and private clinical psychologist/neuropsychologist Emily Segal, a member of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation board, at RBC’s unveiling of its $2.25-million gift for The Ottawa Hospital. Photo by Caroline Phillips

From left, Brian Cook, managing director, renewable power and transition group, at Brookfield, with fellow Ottawa Hospital Foundation board member Nadir Patel, senior strategic advisor at Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP, at RBC’s unveiling of its $2.25-million gift for The Ottawa Hospital. Photo by Caroline Phillips
From left, Marjolaine Hudon, regional president of RBC, with The Ottawa Hospital Foundation’s board chair, Janet McKeage, RBC president and CEO David McKay and Jennifer Van Noort, vice president of philanthropy for The Ottawa Hospital Foundation, at RBC’s unveiling of its $2.25-million gift for The Ottawa Hospital. Photo by Caroline Phillips
From left, Adam Joiner, CEO of non-profit organization BGC Ottawa, with RBC’s Chris Mansbridge, Glenn Sheen and Linda Newman, at RBC’s unveiling of its $2.25 -million gift for The Ottawa Hospital Foundation, announced Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, at the National Arts Centre. Photo by Caroline Phillips
Leaders from RBC and The Ottawa Hospital, along with business leaders from the hospital’s foundation board, gather for a photo at the unveiling of RBC’s $2.25-million donation to The Ottawa Hospital Foundation’s Campaign to Create Tomorrow during an announcement made Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, in the O’Born Room of the National Arts Centre. Photo by Caroline Phillips

“This gift is about investing in people,” said Kluke during his brief remarks to thank RBC.

Kluke spoke of how important the simulation training is, offered through the RBC STARS program, for the hospital’s health care workers that need to hone their skills or learn new skills. He credited a prior RBC gift with helping to ensure hospital staff were prepared for the tragic Westboro bus crash of 2019.

 “This gift is part of a critical investment in our community,” said Kluke

To date, the $500-million campaign has raised just over $300 million. “We’re getting there, we’re getting there,” said Kluke.

The Ottawa Hospital employs 17,000 — all of whom buy homes, renew mortgages and support local businesses, he pointed out. At the height of the construction of the new facility, there will be more than 3,000 construction workers on site, building the new campus.

“This is going to be a legacy for all of us in our community,” he added in closing.

Tim Kluke, president and CEO of The Ottawa Hospital Foundation, delivers brief thank-you remarks at the unveiling of RBC’s $2.25-million gift for The Ottawa Hospital. Photo by Caroline Phillips
More than 150 people attended an event hosted by the RBC on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, in the O’Born Room at the National Arts Centre. Photo by Caroline Phillips

caroline@obj.ca

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