$23M supports creation of cardiac diagnostic unit for children

Toronto, ON – The Sick Kids Heart Centre will receive $23 million in funding from Ontario’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and from a committed group of donors to Sick Kids Foundation for the creation of the Cardiac Diagnostic and Interventional Unit (CDIU).

The state-of-the-art unit will be used to diagnose and treat children with congenital heart disease. Minimally invasive procedures that will be performed in this unit can eliminate the need for open-heart surgery among cardiac patients.

Scheduled to open in early 2007, the 18,000 square-foot CDIU will include two catheterization labs, an integrated MRI, a post-anaesthetic recovery area and new systems for storing clinical and research information.

“The integrated unit will allow Sick Kids to continue developing new innovations in minimally invasive alternatives to open-heart surgery,” says Dr Lee Benson, director of the CDIU at Sick Kids. “It will open up the possibility of finding new treatments that cause less strain on children with cardiac conditions.”

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care has committed to providing up to $7.2 million to fund the CDIU. The unit has also received funding from private donors totalling $15.8 million. A gift of $3 million from Mitchell Goldhar, owner of FirstPro Shopping Centres, completes the private funding commitment to the CDIU. The multi-year gifts from the events and radiothons of Standard Radio total $8 million and represent the largest combined donation to the CDIU. Other major donors to the CDIU with gifts of more than $1 million include: Ruth and Douglas Grant, David and Judy Galloway, Jennifer Ivey Bannock and the Ivey Foundation.