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Munk raises charity bar
Businessman currently planning $720M Adriatic resort
May 30, 2006. 02:45 PM
CURTIS RUSH
STAFF REPORTER THESTAR.COM
Gold baron Peter Munk will donate $37 million to Toronto General Hospital - the largest gift ever made to a Canadian medical institution.
The announcement was made this morning at the hospital on University Ave. by Dr. Robert Bell, chief executive of University Health Network - which includes Toronto General - and by Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman.
"I'm very pleased and proud to have been able to support in a very tangible way this great Canadian institution," Munk said.
Munk, born in Hungary and raised in Switzerland, came to Canada in his late teens.
The entrepreneur talked of his humble beginnings when he didn't speak much English, yet was able to mount a colossal business in Barrick Gold Corp.
"But I had dreams," he said and those dreams came true.
It's important for him at this stage in life, he added, to give back to society.
"To me, health is the most fundamental part of human dignity," he said.
Munk and his wife Melanie received a standing ovation from the many doctors and health-care officials in attendance when the announcement of the award was made.
After the ceremony, a 55-year-old woman approached Munk to offer a personal note of congratulation.
Dorothy Verbuyst of Tillsonburg, Ont., told Munk she was a heart transplant patient at Toronto General and was feeling that her life was now still ahead of her after getting her new heart 10 weeks ago.
She was walking fine and feeling fine.
"I have my life back," she said while thanking Munk for advancing the cause of the cardiac care facility at the hospital.
Munk was clearly touched by her story of survival after she had suffered an almost fatal heart attack last year.
Munk, 78, founded Barrick Gold 21 years ago and built it into the world's largest gold producer.
And he did this, even though he doesn't consider himself special.
"I am no more than average," he said, adding later that he has the high school marks to prove it.
Yet he was inspired, he said, and others remarked that now thousands of patients will be inspired by the $37 million gift.
The gift is earmarked to support the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, which Munk helped create in 1997 with a $6 million gift. Munk lost his father, grandfather and uncle to heart disease.
The gift will fund a new program and facility including the purchase of state of the art imaging equipment.
"Mr. and Mrs. Munk's extraordinary vision and gift will transform the centre into the premier cardiac centre of the future with the latest diagnostic and intervention facilities," said Philip Orsino, chairman of the board of trustrees of the University Health Network.
Smitherman announced $7 million in additional funding for the centre to be provided by the province.
Munk was in the news recently after announcing plans to build a $720 million luxury resort on Montenegro's Adriatic coast.
The donation comes on the heels of other major hospital gifts in recent months.
The largest previous gift to a Canadian hospital has been $25 million. Audrey Campbell and her daughters contributed that much to the Institute for Breast Cancer Research at Princess Margaret Hospital two years ago.
Last year, Hong Kong businessman Li Ka Shing donated $25 million to help St. Michael's Hospital build a new research institute aimed at getting new treatments to patients more quickly.
There have been other, larger gifts to non-medical organizations in Canada.
Toronto businessman Larry Tanenbaum recently said he was giving $50-million worth of stock to the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, the city's major Jewish charitable organization.
Businessman currently planning $720M Adriatic resort
May 30, 2006. 02:45 PM
CURTIS RUSH
STAFF REPORTER THESTAR.COM
Gold baron Peter Munk will donate $37 million to Toronto General Hospital - the largest gift ever made to a Canadian medical institution.
The announcement was made this morning at the hospital on University Ave. by Dr. Robert Bell, chief executive of University Health Network - which includes Toronto General - and by Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman.
"I'm very pleased and proud to have been able to support in a very tangible way this great Canadian institution," Munk said.
Munk, born in Hungary and raised in Switzerland, came to Canada in his late teens.
The entrepreneur talked of his humble beginnings when he didn't speak much English, yet was able to mount a colossal business in Barrick Gold Corp.
"But I had dreams," he said and those dreams came true.
It's important for him at this stage in life, he added, to give back to society.
"To me, health is the most fundamental part of human dignity," he said.
Munk and his wife Melanie received a standing ovation from the many doctors and health-care officials in attendance when the announcement of the award was made.
After the ceremony, a 55-year-old woman approached Munk to offer a personal note of congratulation.
Dorothy Verbuyst of Tillsonburg, Ont., told Munk she was a heart transplant patient at Toronto General and was feeling that her life was now still ahead of her after getting her new heart 10 weeks ago.
She was walking fine and feeling fine.
"I have my life back," she said while thanking Munk for advancing the cause of the cardiac care facility at the hospital.
Munk was clearly touched by her story of survival after she had suffered an almost fatal heart attack last year.
Munk, 78, founded Barrick Gold 21 years ago and built it into the world's largest gold producer.
And he did this, even though he doesn't consider himself special.
"I am no more than average," he said, adding later that he has the high school marks to prove it.
Yet he was inspired, he said, and others remarked that now thousands of patients will be inspired by the $37 million gift.
The gift is earmarked to support the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, which Munk helped create in 1997 with a $6 million gift. Munk lost his father, grandfather and uncle to heart disease.
The gift will fund a new program and facility including the purchase of state of the art imaging equipment.
"Mr. and Mrs. Munk's extraordinary vision and gift will transform the centre into the premier cardiac centre of the future with the latest diagnostic and intervention facilities," said Philip Orsino, chairman of the board of trustrees of the University Health Network.
Smitherman announced $7 million in additional funding for the centre to be provided by the province.
Munk was in the news recently after announcing plans to build a $720 million luxury resort on Montenegro's Adriatic coast.
The donation comes on the heels of other major hospital gifts in recent months.
The largest previous gift to a Canadian hospital has been $25 million. Audrey Campbell and her daughters contributed that much to the Institute for Breast Cancer Research at Princess Margaret Hospital two years ago.
Last year, Hong Kong businessman Li Ka Shing donated $25 million to help St. Michael's Hospital build a new research institute aimed at getting new treatments to patients more quickly.
There have been other, larger gifts to non-medical organizations in Canada.
Toronto businessman Larry Tanenbaum recently said he was giving $50-million worth of stock to the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, the city's major Jewish charitable organization.