Women’s College Hospital Foundation is a 3-star charity. It has a below average results reporting grade and overhead spending outside of Ci’s reasonable range. It is financially transparent and with current reserves it can over 7.2 years of annual grants. 

Founded in 1984, Women’s College Hospital Foundation (WCHF) is the fundraising arm for Women’s College Hospital (WCH). The hospital was founded in 1883 by Dr. Emily Stowe (Canada’s first female doctor) and aims to improve the quality of healthcare provided to women and marginalized groups. 

WCHF granted $8.3m to Women’s College Hospital in F2023 ($7.4m in F2022). The grants went to Research, Education and Research Chairs (37%), Clinical Program Support (35%), Capital and Equipment (13%), and the Gilgan Centre for Women’s Cancers (13%). The remaining 3% went to WCH’s Institute for Health System Solutions & Virtual Care. 

Women’s College Hospital is an ambulatory hospital, meaning it only provides outpatient care and has no in-patient beds. By focusing on outpatient care, WCH aims to avoid hospital admissions as well as reduce emergency room visits, minimize patient risk of infection by spending less time in the hospital, and reduce costs to the healthcare system. In F2023, the hospital reported 317,520 total ambulatory visits, 54,605 internal medicine visits, 33,251 mental health visits, 29,428 surgery visits, and 13,013 sexual and reproductive health visits.  

Women’s College Hospital Foundation provides research funding for WCH’s Research Institute. The Institute focuses its research on improving care and health outcomes for groups that have been historically underrepresented in research (i.e., women and marginalized groups). In F2023, WCH reports having 1,224 faculty of medicine trainees, and 348 research ethics board studies. WCHF reports that WCH currently has over 60 clinical support programs.  

WCHF supported the launch of Women’s Virtual in November 2019, which is Canada’s first virtual hospital. Women’s Virtual offers multiple programs including an online support group for new moms, web-based education programs for patients managing chronic pain, an app that connects patients with their medical team after surgery, and an online consulting service that connects patients and primary care doctors with specialists for medical advice. In F2023, the hospital reported 138,832 virtual care visits. 

WCHF supports the Peter Gilgan Centre for Women's Cancers. It is a virtual program that supports women affected by cancer. The centre offers access to screening and prevention services. It also offers resources and educational materials for patients. 

Women’s College Hospital Foundation received $16.5m in donations and special events fundraising in F2022. Administrative costs are 26% of total revenue (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 10% of donations and special events fundraising. This results in total overhead spending of 36%. Overhead spending increased from 22% in F2022. For every dollar donated to WCHF, 64 cents go to the cause. This is just outside Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.  

WCHF had $83.2m in reserve funds in F2023. Reserve funds are the charity’s cash and investments. Of the reserve funds, $36.6m is donor endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, the Foundation has enough reserves to cover annual grant spending at the current level for 7.2 years. 

WCHF funding reserves earned investment income of $1.3m in F2023. This represents an annual return on investment of 2%. The average return on investment for the past nine years is 7%. As of F2023, the foundation holds its investments in stocks (32%) and bonds (36%). 

This report is an update that has been sent to Women’s College Hospital Foundation for review. Comments and edits may be forthcoming. 

Updated on August 14, 2023 by Alessandra Castino.