HERE is Where Cancer Meets its Match Campaign Update

Since launching our $20M Cancer Campaign, HERE is Where Cancer Meets its Match, donor support has enabled Southlake to achieve remarkable milestones in bringing the latest technology to our Regional Cancer Centre, including upgrading and expanding our fleet of Linear Accelerators (LINACs) for radiation therapy. Donations replaced three of our aging LINACs and added a fifth to our fleet, building critical capacity, addressing demand, and eliminating wait times in our Radiation Treatment Program. Our new Elekta Harmony LINAC is the first of its kind in Canada and the first in North America to include an innovative facial recognition feature for enhanced patient safety.

A crucial project in the Cancer Campaign is replacing Southlake’s aging MRI machine. Southlake’s previous 1.5 Tesla MRI was the workhorse of the hospital’s Diagnostic Imaging Department for over 16 years, providing timely diagnoses to many thousands of patients even as demand for scans increased. However, it had reached the end of its service life.

Thanks to donor funding to the HERE Campaign, construction on Southlake’s MRI replacement is complete, and the new equipment accepted its first patient in May. The replacement MRI introduces the latest technology, offering dramatically improved image quality, an enhanced design for greater patient comfort, and shorter scan times to accommodate more patients — not at a downtown hospital, but right here in our community, thanks to the support of our donors.