Your Impact

If there’s one word to describe the 2024 Breakfast of Champions, it’s this one: awesome. An excited crowd of close to 1,200 people woke up early and came together at RBC Place London on Tuesday, May 7 for this year’s event. It was a high-energy morning spent celebrating people making a difference in...

Working as a nurse for more than 35 years, Jeannette Lydestad, RN, has taken many opportunities to further her education. “Learning new things always keeps your mind active and young,” she says. Recently, Jeannette realized her family needed the security of a full-time role – something not available...

“We have world-class breast care here, and it’s because of the people – and the technology,” says Dr. Sarah Knowles, surgical Oncologist and Interim Medical Director. And every year, 23,000 patients walk the 281 steps from the front door of St. Joseph’s Hospital to the breast care program. They...

Ask the farming Heeman family about their giving philosophy and the response is fittingly down to earth – both literally and figuratively. “The community is a lot like a plant – if you nurture it, invest in it and care for it, it will thrive and prosper,” says Will Heeman. Sitting around the table...

Ann and her husband Peter got to know the care providers at the St. Joseph’s very well when their daughter Alice was admitted for inpatient mental health care. The care team kept the family well informed about her progress with constant updates. “They were fabulous,” Ann says. “They always took my calls and would say to me every time, ‘do not give up hope’.”

“I never expected to be diagnosed with breast cancer – not just once but twice.” Krista Wilde has been on a physical and emotional rollercoaster since late 2021 when she first found a lump in her breast. A single mom, with no history of breast cancer in her family, she was terrified. “One day you...

Don and Wendy Smith know a thing or two about comforting people through difficult times. As owner and president of Smith’s Funeral Homes, Don has spent his career helping families navigate grief and caring for them as they say goodbye to a loved one. He has also been on the receiving end of care...

Dr. Serena Wong sees the need for increased funding to mental health care every day. As a clinical psychologist, she cares for adults of all ages – providing one-to-one therapy, as well as group therapy for in- and out-patients. And she’s worried about the growing need for mental health care...

Dr. Fatemah Alali says that the expanded emergency care treatment space and new equipment in the Ivey Eye Institute is a game changer. “It has changed the way we work and improved our approach to care,” says the fourth-year physician resident. With donor support, the Ivey Eye Institute recently...