A donation is an expression of trust. Every time donors make the decision to contribute to Mount Sinai Hospital, they are demonstrating their belief in our people, our abilities, our vision.

Each gift we receive expresses the depth of the confidence our donors have in Mount Sinai. We hold this in the highest esteem. Time and again, our donors help to ensure that the story of Mount Sinai is one of continuous evolution, in which compassion and dedication combine with knowledge and skill to deliver the best possible medicine to our patients and their families.

In 2007-08, we reached an impressive $414 million for The Best Medicine campaign. This year we received $41 million in new pledges and gifts, and set a new record in revenue, with $35.4 million. In addition, an unprecedented $32.8 million was granted to Mount Sinai Hospital by the Foundation, representing a 16.5 per cent increase over last year.

While these are impressive numbers, it is the achievements that those dollars represent that are the most impressive results of this generosity. The Best Medicine campaign has lived up to its name. By supporting our highest priorities, donors to this campaign helped to ensure that our patients continue to receive superb care and benefit from enhancements to equipment and technology, as well as improved research and academic facilities.

This year, for instance, we launched Enabling the Best, a five-year technology strategy designed to change the way we do business, enhance the quality of care and patient safety. Outcomes will include an integrated electronic patient record, an electronic medication ordering system and enterprise-wide patient scheduling.

The Best Medicine has built a solid foundation for our future. A major new capital redevelopment plan will build on that foundation, beginning with Right from the Start: Mount Sinai Hospital’s Campaign for Women’s and Infants’ Health. This ambitious vision has begun to take shape, with an addition of six floors being added to our Murray Street wing. This will house our expanded Lawrence and Frances Bloomberg Centre for Women’s and Infants’ Health, providing bigger and better space, resulting in a much-enhanced environment for the approximately 6,500 babies born each year at Mount Sinai.

Philanthropy also stimulates new avenues of care and research. The Christopher Sharp Centre for Surgery and Oncology, established through support from Isadore and Rosalie Sharp, will provide state-of-the-art technology. A gift from John and Myrna Daniels and their five sons will establish the John H. Daniels Cardiac Research Centre, where investigators will study causes of a disease that affects more than 400,000 Canadians every year. Leadership Sinai, our young philanthropic leaders group, completed their $2-million pledge in support of research at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute. TD Bank Financial Group established a $1 million Fellowship Program that will support the work of 25 postdoctoral fellows over the next 10 years.

In 2007-08 our Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute received $8.7 million from donors. Research support is always gratifying, requiring as it does a long-term vision. The value of such vision was brought home this year, by such celebrated research breakthroughs as Dr. John Roder’s discovery of a genetic component to schizophrenia and Dr. John Kingdom’s finding that an ultrasound examination of a woman’s placenta can help determine if she will have a healthy pregnancy. Dr. Steven Gallinger, working with an international team, made headlines for their discovery of a chromosome variation associated with colon cancer, while Dr. Andrea Jurisicova demonstrated that pre-conception exposure to environmental pollutants diminishes the fertility of mothers’ future offspring.

Two exciting research campaigns were launched this year. With Research Creates the Best Medicine, we introduced a targeted campaign to establish chairs aligned to specific researchers at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute. Leadership Sinai also focused on raising funds for research, starting a multi-million dollar campaign to support our Cancer Research All-Stars Team.

Direct mail campaigns inspired many people to make a donation over the telephone, through the mail or online. Robyn Beder, a long-time supporter of Mount Sinai, made a very personal contribution: her own story. Robyn’s letter about her mother’s end-of-life care at Mount Sinai was one of our most powerful, and most successful direct mail campaigns. The funds generated by Robyn’s and other letters provided direct support to specific areas, including genomics, diabetes and family medicine. Direct mail donors also allowed us to purchase such critical equipment as ventilators for pre-term infants, an anaesthetic delivery unit, adult ventilators, transport defibrillators and bedside monitors for the post-acute care unit.

Our Auxiliary, the oldest and largest in North America, completed its $3.5-million Healthy Babies pledge, through its Annual Gala, other events and donations made through Tribute Cards.

Events helped raise almost $2 million for Mount Sinai this year, while also raising our profile among the community and media. The Mount Sinai Classic golf tournament raised in excess of $340,000 in support of Leadership Sinai’s $2 million pledge to that group’s Fund for Excellence in Research. The increased popularity of our annual private art tour, Behind Closed Doors, saw that event raise more than $200,000 for the Marvelle Koffler Breast Centre.

A smaller, but no less heartfelt, event was the birthday party for Rae Wentzell, which saw the five-year-old forgo presents in favour of donations to our Valentine Neonatal Intensive Care Unit —  “her babies,” as she called them when touring the Unit.

We were pleased to launch Legacy Sinai in October 2007. Legacy Sinai recognizes those people who have committed their support for Mount Sinai through a legacy gift such as a bequest or gift of life insurance. Donor legacies received in 2007 directly supported student researchers, our systems biology research team and other key patient care areas.

Among our many fundraising goals set and reached, the Foundation also maintained the strict standards which keep our expenses low. Our cost to raise a dollar is just 14 cents, well below the industry standard, and represents our absolute accountability to our donors, our community, our patients and their families.

We are grateful for the remarkable support we receive from our donors. As we look ahead to meeting new and continuing challenges, we renew our commitment to maintaining the trust of our existing supporters, and to winning the confidence of new donors.

The transformation of Mount Sinai from a 32-bed maternity and convalescent hospital in 1923 to today’s leading 472-bed research and academic health centre would never have been possible without our donors. Your contributions to our highest priorities help to shape the depth and breadth of care that we provide. Your investment in research is an investment in the future well-being of all Canadians. Your support of Mount Sinai is an overwhelming vote of confidence — a precious covenant we do not take for granted.

On behalf of our patients and their families, and on behalf of our clinicians, researchers, and staff we thank you. Each and every day, your Bright Minds and Big Hearts help us deliver The Best Medicine to our patients and their families.

Sincerely,

Susan Horvath                                              Edward Sonshine, Q.C.
President                                                      Chair
Mount Sinai                                                  Board of Directors
Hospital Foundation                                      Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation