A message from Sinai Health Foundation

One hundred years ago, when Mount Sinai Hospital opened its doors, it was the result of a decade of fundraising by a small group of Jewish women, the Ezras Noshem. These trailblazing women recognized the unmet health-care needs of their community and came together to raise the $12,000 needed to purchase a building on Yorkville Avenue.

By all accounts, it was a modest institution. But what took place within its walls was truly remarkable: it was a safe space for women in their community to give birth, and one of the few hospitals in Toronto where Jewish physicians could practise and learn. Despite the discrimination they faced, the physicians and nurses also shared an unwavering commitment to excellence, finding innovative ways to adapt and enhance care for their community.

From the beginning, Mount Sinai was a place where everyone was welcome. It was and continues to be a hospital built on philanthropy, owing its success to the volunteers and donors who support and shape it. And while Sinai Health is a very different place now than it was a century ago, the legacy of our founders – their spirit of leadership, innovation and inclusivity, and their vision for a world-class hospital – is still present.

We see it across Mount Sinai Hospital, Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital, the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute (LTRI) and system partner, Circle of Care, which came together to form Sinai Health in 2015. As you’ll read throughout this report, our world-class team supports patients across the entire continuum of care, at every life stage and in state-of-the-art facilities, thanks to you.

Nowhere is the spirit of our founders more evident than in the current fundraising efforts to establish a Centre for Mature Women’s Health. Once again, women have recognized an unmet need and come together to launch an unprecedented $50-million campaign to establish this Centre at Mount Sinai Hospital. Thanks to the efforts of our volunteer leaders, we have raised more than $12 million towards this initiative to date. The Centre will be the only place in the world to offer the depth and breadth of clinical care, research, advocacy and education required to address the gaps in care and associated stigma that mature women currently face.

Sinai Health is also a place where remarkable things continue to happen. When their community hospital could not provide the care their babies needed to survive, Shakina Rajendram and Kevin Nadarajah were counting on Mount Sinai’s expertise. Their twins were born 126 days early, and after spending almost six months in the Newton Glassman Charitable Foundation Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, they recently celebrated their first birthday at home with family and friends. Baby Adiah and baby Adrial now hold the Guinness World Record for most premature twins. This is the type of life-changing care made possible in part by your support.

Renew Sinai, funded in part by our generous community, is the largest physical transformation in Mount Sinai’s history. Almost all of our clinical spaces have been modernized – most recently the Kimel Schatzky Intensive Care Unit and the Cancer Care Clinic, part of the Christopher Sharp Cancer Centre. At Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital, we commemorated 10 years in the state-of-the-art facility and celebrated its bright future thanks to the transformative philanthropy of Jay and Barbara Hennick.

Looking to the future, our community is expanding, and we continue to find new ways to meet those needs. In March 2023, we held the inaugural Raptors for Research 3-on-3 basketball tournament in support of the LTRI. Presented in partnership with Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) and the Toronto Raptors, this event capitalizes on the power of sport to bring people together and will help drive game-changing research.

Next, on October 17, we look forward to hosting the Gala of the Century. Funds raised will be directed to the Sinai 100 Fund, a $25-million endowed fund that will provide stable annual funding in perpetuity, allowing us to respond to our most urgent needs across the hospital for the next 100 years.

It’s a privilege to celebrate 100 years of Mount Sinai while imagining the next 100 years as Sinai Health. An incredible legacy built by our community. We’re grateful for the opportunity to celebrate with you, as we continue to work together to propel the next century of care and discovery.

Sincerely,