Rick Hansen Institute

About Rick Hansen Institute:

Founded in 2007, the Rick Hansen Institute (RHI) was formerly called the SCI Solutions Network, and received its charitable status in 2010. RHI operates as an independent organization, but it receives a large majority of its funding from the Rick Hansen Foundation.

The Rick Hansen Institute estimates that 86,000 Canadians live with a spinal cord injury (SCI) in Canada, and projects this to grow to 121,000 by 2030. RHI also estimates that the economic cost of traumatic SCI for newly-injured Canadians is $2.7 billion per year. The Rick Hansen Institute’s mission is to provide resources, infrastructure and knowledge to the global spinal cord injury community. It also aims to “validate and accelerate the translation of evidence and best practices to reduce the incidence and severity of paralysis after SCI, improve health care outcomes, reduce long-term costs, and improve the quality of life for those living with SCI.” Through its core programs, RHI has created a network of researchers, clinicians and service providers. Its programs include translational research, best practices implementation, informatics, network development and consumer engagement.

In F2016, RHI’s translational research program made up 59% of its program spending. RHI funded 100 projects, resulting in over 200 peer-reviewed publications. It also funded two Canada research chairs, 8 post-doctoral fellows and 2 faculty.

RHI’s best practices implementation programs made up 17% of its program spending in F2016. These programs identify and fill knowledge gaps surrounding the clinical management of SCI, and promote best practices in SCI care delivery for newly-injured Canadians. RHI provided more than 550 clinicians with best practice training, and reports that more than 3,500 Canadians have been impacted by the implementation of best practices. RHI reports that 98% of training participants reported that the training was helpful, and 65% expressed confidence in being able to apply the standards to their work after training.

RHI’s Rick Hansen SCI Registry is a Canadian observational registry for individuals suffering from SCI. RHI currently has 31 sites that collect patient data for the registry, linking clinicians, researchers and health care administrators across Canada. RHI has developed SCI standards of care in partnership with Accreditation Canada, and accredited 7 Canadian sites in F2016. RHI aims to have 50% of the sites in its registry meet the standards for accreditation by 2018.

The rest of RHI’s spending is allocated to informatics (11%), network development (3%), and consumer engagement (10%).

RHI reports that it has seen improvements in the SCI landscape at both the hospital and community levels. These include improved surgical techniques, shorter hospital stays and reduced secondary complications.

Financial Review:

Rick Hansen Institute is a large charity, with donations of $10.9m in F2016. Its administrative costs are 4% of revenues. Its fundraising costs, excluding grants received from the Rick Hansen Foundation, are 14% of donations. For every $1 donated to the charity 82 cents is put towards its programs, falling within Ci’s reasonable range. The charity’s funding reserves of $6.9m result in a program cost coverage ratio of 65%. This means that it can cover 8 months of its annual programs using its existing reserves.

This charity report is an update that is being reviewed by Rick Hansen Institute. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on August 18, 2016 by Lynn Tay.