The holidays are a time steeped in traditions like decorating our homes with twinkling lights, sharing greetings with those we hold dear, and baking grandma’s shortbread cookie recipe. Sometimes it’s those small but meaningful traditions that mean the most. Here at St. Joe’s, we have a long tradition of caring for our community. It began with our Founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Hamilton, who arrived in our city to help care for those affected by the cholera epidemic more than a century ago.
DOUBLE the impact of your gift this Holiday season.
This year, your donation will have the TWO TIMES the impact, as donations to our Holiday Appeal will be matched, dollar-for-dollar, by a generous donor through the Ever Hopeful Fund - up to a maximum of $100,000!
Match my donation dollar-for-dollarToday, a new generation of healthcare professionals carry on that selfless tradition of helping others by caring for our community amidst the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
And YOU can help them.
The projects and priorities we’re raising funds for this Holiday season
We created this fund so St. Joe’s can quickly adapt to urgent and emerging COVID-19 needs as they arise. The virus is still relatively new and unpredictable, but every day we are learning more about how to treat it, contain it, and prevent its spread. Gifts to this fund will be applied where they are needed most—whether it’s to purchase a new piece of equipment or acquire additional personal protective equipment.
St. Joe’s researchers like Dr. David Bulir (left) and Dr. Marek Smieja are investigating how to speed up timelines and increase capacity for COVID-19 testing across the province of Ontario with the support of robotic laboratory assistants. Other studies at St. Joe’s are also looking at which types of personal protective equipment are most effective so we can keep our healthcare workers and our patients safe, and how to increase the safety of international travel and help contain the COVID-19 virus.
Sadly, one of the long-term effects of a pandemic is the toll that it takes on our community’s mental health and wellbeing. St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton is the regional lead for mental health and addictions care. We’re already seeing an increase in the number of visits to our psychiatric emergency service and requests for mental health care. This is due to increased feelings of stress and anxiety and higher incidence of substance abuse and depression from physical isolation, job loss, and economic struggles. Our Hospital is also one of five centres in Ontario providing mental health support to frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. We need your help to expand our services to meet the increased need for mental health and addictions care.
Having the right equipment and supplies at our Hospital is critical to both serving those who are affected by COVID-19, but also to address the ongoing healthcare issues of the patients we serve each and every day. We need your support to help purchase items like ventilators and opti-flow machines for our ICU, lab testing supplies and equipment, masks, gloves, gowns, face shields and more.