Gratitude in action: Collingwood Hospital Foundation receives $1 Million gift

When a skiing accident landed Art Church in the CGMH Emergency Department last February, he was glad that he could be referred to Orthopaedic Services where expert surgeon, Dr. Henry Koo took over his care. To show his appreciation to Dr. Koo and the entire surgical team, Art decided to make a gift of $1 million to the program.“I sustained a very serious upper arm injury due to a fluke skiing accident at the Peaks in Feb of this year,” says Art Church “The Collingwood Hospital emergency department and the orthopedic surgical team did a wonderful job of putting me back together with a rather lengthy and complicated operation of over 3.5 hours. The arm has healed 100% although I still have lots of physio in front of me. I will be forever grateful to Dr Henry Koo and his team for their skill and my ultimate recovery. I have been very lucky in life and I am more than pleased to repay some of that to support our hospital in order they can continue to improve and serve our community.”Art and his wife Colleen spend their time between Collingwood, Grand Bend and Florida-depending on the season-but Collingwood is becoming more of a home base. Art is the CEO of Mancor Industries in Oakville, a manufacturer of metal components and subassemblies for vehicle manufacturers. Through his experiences at Mancor, Art saw the need for enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. In 2017 he and his family founded OnRamp Solutions with a head office in Collingwood. Art’s son works at ONRamp & his family resides in Collingwood.

The $1 million commitment from Art Church & Family allowed the Surgical Team to go beyond what had been budgeted for capital equipment purchases in 2022. “Art’s arm was literally in pieces,” recalls Dr. Henry Koo, CGMH Orthopaedic Surgeon, “We had a lot of work to do to put it back together in a way that would allow him to function normally again after surgery. The equipment his donation will fund will help us to do the same for hundreds of other patients. Our entire team is grateful to Art for his generosity.” Not only does the Orthopaedic Program benefit from this gift, but other surgical specialties, as well as the Anaesthesia Program. This generous gift will purchase a blanket warmer to comfort surgical patients, an upgraded portable ultrasound machine to assist anaesthetists to pinpoint nerves for anaesthetic blocks, a new C-Arm x-ray machine for real time imaging for orthopaedic surgeries, and many other important medical items. Most exciting will be the installation of state-of-the-art ultraviolet lighting to safely kill bacteria during surgical procedures in all three operating rooms – the first of its kind in Ontario.Michael Lacroix, CGMH President & CEO, “The CGMH Team has worked diligently over the past two and a half years under very difficult circumstances. Like hospitals across Canada, we need more healthcare professionals and some respite for our team. When patients and families take the time to show their appreciation for excellent care, it lifts everyone’s spirits. We are so grateful to Art for showing his appreciation with such a generous gift. It is an extraordinary act of gratitude.”