The Almonte General Hospital Fairview Manor Foundation received its largest gift ever, $1.2 million, in December 2023, from long-time summer residents Gene and Millie Simpson.
“We are so grateful to the Simpsons who, after 24 years of receiving great care from our Chief of Staff, Dr. Graeme McKillop, a couple of stays at the Hospital and a few visits to our emergency department, decided to show their appreciation and gratitude with this extraordinary act of philanthropy,” said Hospital President and CEO Mary Wilson Trider.
Although the Simpsons spent most of their lives in California where they met and married, Millie grew up in Carp, Ont., and has family throughout the surrounding region. When the Hospital was being renovated in 2004, the Simpsons made a donation so that one of the patient rooms could be named in memory of Millie’s parents, Wallace and Velma Cox. Her mother lived at Fairview Manor for a few years. Each spring since 2000, Gene and Millie travelled from their home in Santa Barbara, Calif., to spend summers in Almonte.
“We are quite pleased to be in the position to make this gift,” said Gene and Millie. “It is quite evident to us after discussions with Mrs. Trider, Dr. McKillop and other staff members, of the need and the benefit to those who live in Almonte and the surrounding area that this donation will bring. We have been quite fortunate to have elected to live in Almonte where our medical care has been exceptional during our stays in this friendly town.”
Foundation Board Chair Rob Scott said, “This gift is truly transformation. The Hospital and Manor have many pressing equipment needs, and we are very fortunate that people like the Simpsons, and many others in the community, place so much value on local health care that that they are willing to support it with donations. As a Foundation Board, we are committed to working with the Hospital Board and senior staff to ensure that this unprecedented donation makes a significant and lasting impact on patient and resident care and that it leaves an enduring legacy to Gene and Millie for their incredible generosity.
The AGH FVM Foundation works with the community to raise funds provided to the Hospital and Manor to purchase replacement and new clinical equipment. Although the provincial government funds the operation of the Hospital and Manor, funds are not provided for replacement or new clinical equipment. As well as addressing annual equipment needs, the Foundation is currently in the final phase of $3.2 million campaign to fund the Hospital’s first CT scanner expected to be operational by the summer of 2024.
For more information about supporting quality health care close to home, please visit: www.almontehospitalfoundation.