Health Sciences Centre Foundation

About Health Sciences Centre Foundation:

Founded in 1976, Health Sciences Centre Foundation (HSCF) raises money for equipment purchases, building projects, research, and training at Health Sciences Centre Hospital. The hospital treats more than 850,000 patients each year from Manitoba, Northwestern Ontario, and Nunavut.

HSCF allocated $4.5m in grants to the hospital for Varian Edge equipment, representing more than half of the grant money distributed in F2018. The Varian Edge was installed in 2016 and has treated over 100 patients. The machine delivers radiation to some tumours. Requiring only five treatments, tumour growth has been stopped in some patients. The Varian Edge radiation is a non-invasive alternative to cancer surgery. In F2018, the hospital installed an add-on to the Varian Edge which improves the machine’s accuracy by tracking tumour movement while the patient breathes.

In F2018, HSCF granted $1.2m to Kleysen Institute for Advanced Medicine, where an MRI can be used during surgery, which treats brain tumours, head trauma, strokes, and aneurysms.

HSCF funds research at Health Sciences Centre and University of Manitoba. Research grants awarded in F2018 include projects examining brain cancer, hybrid MRI/PET brain imaging options, and brain treatments for people with intellectual disabilities and autism.

Results and Impact:

In F2017, Health Sciences Centre Foundation awarded Dr. Marcus Ng a research grant of $70,000. By examining the eye movement of epileptic patients while they sleep, Dr. Ng has been able to identify and remove the part of the brain causing seizures. HSCF reports that the first patient to undergo this procedure has not experienced any seizures since treatment. It estimates that approximately 3,300 Manitobans with epilepsy could benefit from the procedure.

Financial Review:

Health Sciences Centre Foundation is a large charity with donations of $6m in F2018. HSCF received $2.6m in revenue from lotteries net of expenses, representing 25% of revenues. Administrative costs are 10% of revenues and fundraising costs are 13% of donations. For every dollar donated, 77 cents go to the cause, which is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Health Sciences Centre Foundation has $34.8m in funding reserves, of which $16.6m is donor-endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, HSCF could continue granting at the F2018 level for more than two years using reserves.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Health Sciences Centre Foundation for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Created on May 17, 2019 by Madison Kerr.