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Couple pledges $500,000 to Hearts & Minds campaign

Huber Family helps bring advanced cardiac care close to home
Donna and Conrad Huber
Donna and Conrad Huber have made a $500,000 pledge to Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre’s (RVH) Hearts & Minds campaign. Their generous gift will help bring advanced cardiac care closer to home.

NEWS RELEASE

ROYAL VICTORIA REGIONAL HEALTH CENTRE

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Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) has received a generous donation from Donna and Conrad Huber which will help bring advanced cardiac care to the people of Simcoe Muskoka.

The Port Severn couple have made a $500,000 pledge, over five years, to RVH’s Hearts & Minds campaign. The couple have always lived a life of philanthropy, however, this gift is the largest personal pledge the couple has ever made and they can’t wipe the smiles off their faces.

“It feels wonderful to be able to do this,” says Donna. “Giving back to the community in which you live is so important and it doesn’t matter how much you give - the feeling is the same. We have given $3,000 all the way up to this $500,000 pledge and the feeling is always the same. It just feels good to give back.”

The Hubers have spent many summers at the family home in Gloucester Pool in Severn Township.

Now, after retiring as executive vice president and part-owner in Piller’s Sausages & Delicatessens Ltd., which was founded by his family in 1957, the couple decided to turn their seasonal retreat into a permanent home.

Part of that move was to investigate their healthcare options and they discovered there were no advanced cardiac services in North Simcoe Muskoka.

People in the region do not have access to the gold standard of cardiac care – treatment within 90 minutes of a heart attack.

The Hubers wanted to change that picture, and not just for themselves, but for everyone in the region who currently live outside that 90 minute window.

RVH has provincial government approval and funding from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to develop an Advanced Cardiac program, scheduled to open in 2017.

RVH’s program will provide heart diagnostics and interventions such as angiograms and angioplasty, giving patients access to faster treatment, a shorter hospital stay and less travel time.

“Soon patients here will be able to call 911 and if paramedics determine they are having a heart attack, patients will come directly to RVH’s Advanced Cardiac Centre. They’ll receive the treatment they need and then can recover right down the hall in our Cardiac Care Unit, surrounded by family,” says Dr. Stephen Pizzale, RVH cardiologist.  “The playing field is being levelled and make no mistake, it will save lives.” 

RVH now boasts a team of nine cardiology specialists who provide 24/7 cardiology coverage for the entire region; an Urgent Cardiology Clinic providing speedy assessment and testing for patients who come to RVH’s Emergency department; the region’s only Cardiac (intensive) Care Unit, along with a dedicated 32-bed Cardiac Renal unit.

“Our Advanced Cardiac program will be a game changer for heart patients in our region," says Janice Skot, RVH president and CEO. “Soon North Simcoe Muskoka residents will have the same gold standard of heart care as those in the rest of the province - treatment within 90 minutes of a heart attack. That’s critically important because when it comes to the heart, time is muscle.”

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