Million-dollar donation for cardiac care

By Lethbridge Herald on May 14, 2025.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald

The Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation has received a substantial donation to go towards the proposed Cardiac Centre of Excellence. 

An family from southern Alberta has anonymously donated $1 million to the proposed Cardiac Centre of Excellence, helping the CRH Foundation and the Cardiac Sciences Advisory Cabinet get closer to their $30 million goal. 

Oliver Twizell, director of development with the CRHF, says the family who donated the funds care a lot about supporting the southern Alberta region. 

“They have deep roots within the region, they care about their neighbours and the health of the overall community,” says Twizell. 

He adds that at this point, including this million-dollar donation, they have raised about $10 million towards their $30 million goal. 

“The $30 million goal was identified to help support and show the community’s commitment to the need for this facility,” says Twizell. “Because depending on the functional planning, the actual project is roughly between 250 and 300 million dollars,” says Twizell.

He adds that planning for this cardiac centre of excellence has been ongoing for several years, with some key government support, but part of that support is money that has been set aside for functioning planning. 

Twizell explains that at the functional planning stage, which is where the project is at now, they are deciding where the various rooms and equipment will fit together and costing that out. This includes measuring the spaces and making decisions operationally, like how close recovery rooms need to be to a window. 

“Because we will have people who’ve had open heart surgery in Calgary and come back to Lethbridge for rehab, and research has shown that when people is in front of light and nature, recovery goes much better, alongside with being in your own community,” says Twizell.