A message from SMHF Chair, Dan Brooks, and Foundation Executive Director, Leah Walker.
Our South Muskoka Hospital is your first point of care if you or a member of your family has a medical emergency while at your Muskoka home. We are continually striving to meet the evolving and ongoing needs of our growing community, including our permanent and seasonal residents, our cottagers, and the many tourists who visit Muskoka every year. Everyone deserves a first-rate, full-service community hospital.
The South Muskoka Hospital Foundation strives to ensure our hospital is equipped with the latest available technical and diagnostic services. This year, we will support the hospital with over $2 million in new tools and technology, as well as support for recruitment, facility redevelopment, and staff education.
In our roles as Chair and Executive Director of the Foundation, we are continuously inspired by the generosity and resiliency of our community. South Muskoka Hospital is a high-quality hospital providing excellent care, a fact that is reinforced by the highest accreditation rating possible, with exemplary standing.
The unwavering support of our community is imperative for our success. We have exceptionally dedicated, talented, and committed doctors, nurses, technicians, and support staff. Our hospital provides a full suite of services including regular, planned procedures, and complex emergency surgeries. Knowing our community is supporting and standing behind them motivates, encourages, and empowers our Foundation and front-line teams alike. We are eternally grateful for our donors, who step up to ensure we can all access the care we need, when we need it.
Dan Brooks, Chair & Leah Walker, Executive Dir.
South Muskoka Hospital Foundation
If YOU are able to help, please contact Executive Director, Leah Walker, to discuss the many ways that you can help support your local community hospital. (705) 645-4404 x 3193
Business Partner Stories
Many people still don’t realize that the South Muskoka Hospital Foundation receives no funding from the Government of Ontario to purchase new or replacement equipment. To ensure our hospital remains at the cutting edge of healthcare services and delivery, the hospital depends on the generosity of donors. The South Muskoka Hospital Foundation encourages our community to invest in the highest standard of healthcare, everything from lifesaving equipment to healthcare education and urgent renovations and repairs. Having grown our businesses, and raised our families here in Muskoka, I feel that having such a great facility staffed by dedicated, compassionate professionals is truly a privilege.
“I wanted to give back to the community, and to the hospital, that has supported my family, businesses, and our staff for over three generations.”
As a business operator, our staff relies on the hospital for their own physical health and the wellbeing of their families - this is of the utmost importance to us.
“If you are able to help, please do. Consider supporting the South Muskoka Hospital Foundation.”
I believe that supporting our hospital is an investment in people, in our collective future, and in life. It’s an instant way to make an impact in our community, for our families, friends, and neighbours, for today and tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Arnie Coulson
Coulson Bros.
Donor Stories
“Recently, we announced one of the largest ever annual donation pledges to the South Muskoka Hospital Foundation, thanks to the incredible generosity of Stephen & Kathy Moulton.”
Stephen and Kathy have been long-time Muskoka cottagers and are now permanent residents in our community. With this annual donation, the Foundation has plans to purchase urgently needed equipment and invest further resources in staff education and well-being.
In recognition of their munificent gift, the waiting room at the South Muskoka Memorial Hospital has been named the Stephen and Kathy Moulton Emergency Department Waiting Area.
We are very proud to recognize the Moultons’ annual donation with the naming of the Emergency Room waiting area in their honour. Recurring gifts such as theirs are vital to our long-term planning and make it possible for us to invest confidently in equipment, training, and resources as required. When donors make an ongoing commitment to the hospital, as Stephen and Kathy have, it allows us to better serve our patients and our community.
It’s important to us to not only help purchase the equipment,” say Stephen and Kathy, “but to ensure the people using the equipment know we are here for them, too.”
As with the gifts of all our generous donors, donations like these empower us to save lives, enhance community health, and make a lasting impact on the patients who come through our doors, and their families.
Leah Walker
Executive Director,
South Muskoka Hospital Foundation
Donor Stories
Robinson Clark has a long connection to Muskoka. His ancestors purchased an island property in Beaumaris in 1886, and Rob grew up coming up to the island on weekends and throughout the summer holidays. About a decade ago, he made the move permanent. He now works in Bracebridge and lives in Muskoka year-round with his young family.
Like his parents, grandparents, and great grandparents before him, Rob recognizes the vital role played by the South Muskoka Hospital and supports it both as a donor and with a seat on the hospital foundation board. He feels that beyond personal fulfillment, there are many tangible benefits associated with philanthropy, and he encourages members of the younger generations to support causes like the hospital that matter to them and to their communities.
Supporting the hospital also offers advantages from a will and estate planning perspective. “By including the hospital in your estate plans,” says Rob, “you can leave a lasting legacy and potentially enjoy tax benefits.”
“By rallying behind the hospital, we strengthen our collective health and well-being. And with the largest ever intergenerational transfer of wealth under way, we also take the torch from the hands of our parents and grandparents and carry their good work forward.”
Most importantly, a fully staffed, well-resourced hospital is essential to any community. Unfortunately, we’re all probably going to require the services of our local hospital at one time or another, whether that be for emergency care or diagnostic services or treatments. It is therefore in everyone’s interest to ensure that the hospital has the means to employ the personnel and purchase the equipment necessary to provide great healthcare.
A gift of securities can make a meaningful impact on healthcare in Muskoka while providing improved tax benefits for you. A gift of publicly traded securities can provide you with an improved capacity to make a meaningful difference at the hospital.
Your best tax advantage for a gift of stock is a direct donation, as the federal government has eliminated the capital gains tax payable on the appreciated value. You or your estate will receive a tax credit to lower the income tax payable.
You can also donate the cash proceeds from the sale of publicly traded stocks, but you’ll have to pay tax on any capital gains so your net tax savings won’t be as high.
For example, under the new taxation rules, if a donor donates stock that originally was purchased for $400 and now has a fair market value of $1,000, the donor will receive a tax receipt from South Muskoka Hospital Foundation for $1,000 and will not have to pay any tax on the gain.
Planned giving is planning for the future. When you leave a gift in your will or name the hospital as a beneficiary for a life insurance policy, retirement plan or other investment, you are helping to ensure quality care for generations to come.
The South Muskoka Hospital Foundation (SMHF) relies on planned giving donations for a quarter of its annual funding for the hospital. These funds purchase urgently needed, lifesaving equipment which is not paid for through government funding. As you plan for your future, consider joining SMHF’s Legacy Society and leaving a gift in your will. It costs you nothing during your lifetime, can be changed or revoked as needed, and allows you to have a lasting impacting beyond your lifetime.
It’s a very simple, yet powerful way to provide long-lasting future support for local health care. Take care of generations to come and leave your mark on the future.
“Through the years, the South Muskoka hospital has cared for the people I love… cared for my wife, my children and my children’s children,” said a SMHF Legacy Society Member. “I want to make an impact on a place that has been very important to me.”
The SMHF gratefully recognizes those who want to create a legacy of health care beyond their lifetime and proudly displays member names on the Legacy Society Donor Wall located in the main lobby of the hospital.
“Leaving a legacy gift is a deeply personal and significant decision,” says SMHF Executive Director Leah Walker, “We greatly value our Legacy Society members for their thoughtful planning, and are proud to recognize them today for their commitment to the future.”
How will you be remembered? To learn more visit healthmuskoka.ca/planned-giving or contact the Foundation office at (705) 645-4404 ext 3193 or email [email protected].
| Lap Chole Instruments | $75,000 |
| 2 Urology Lenses | $22,800 |
| Obstetrics Defibrillator & Crash Cart | $21,100 |
| Breast Imaging System | $60,000 |
| Vital Signs Monitor Echo | $4,500 |
| Bladder Scanner | $18,000 |
| Wheelchairs | $28,000 |
| Blanket Warmer | $8,900 |
| Portable Ultrasound Machine | $60,000 |
| 2 Halo Bassinets | $13,200 |
| Ultrasound Reprocessing Unit | $28,000 |
| Cautery Device | $66,000 |
| ESR Automated Machine | $7,200 |
| Ontario Telehealth Network System | $12,500 |
| Neptune Waste Management System | $26,500 |
| Infant Security System | $200,000 |
| Telehealth Conferencing Technology | $25,000 |
| Endoscope Fleet | $140,600 |
| Ureteroscope | $22,800 |
| Cardiac Monitor | $7,000 |
| Urology Table | $90,000 |
Double Your Donation Double Your Impact. Inspired by the local cottagers and seasonal residents of Muskoka, all donations will be matched up to a total of $100,000.00 by the Friends of Muskoka Lakes.
If YOU are able to help, please contact Executive Director, Leah Walker, to discuss the many ways that you can help support your local community hospital.
TO DONATE, please call LEAH or visit us online today:
Call: (705) 645-4404 x 3193 • www.healthmuskoka.ca/donate
