D’Angelo, Maio and Memme families announce largest single philanthropic gift to date in support of $300M capital campaign
L to R: Lidia Maio, John MacIntyre, Paul Farrell, Rosella D’Angelo, Fayez Quereshy, MPP Michael Tibollo, Cornell Wright, Giuseppe Maio, John D’Angelo, Allan Okrainec, Premier Doug Ford, Todd Halpern, Claudio Memme, Tom Forbes, Minister Michael Kerzner, Kevin Smith, Dean Connor, Gina Memme, Julie Quenneville (CNW Group/UHN Foundation)
TORONTO, Oct. 25, 2024 /CNW// – UHN Foundation proudly announces a landmark $30-million gift from three families in the real estate development sector to support the construction of UHN’S new cutting-edge surgical tower at Toronto Western Hospital. John D’Angelo, Giuseppe Maio and Claudio Memme – partners at HBNG Holborn Group – together with their wives Rosella, Lidia and Gina, respectively, and the HBNG Charitable Foundation, unveiled the gift last night at the opening of the 20th Grand Cru Culinary Wine Festival. Founded by UHN trustee and UHN Foundation board member Todd Halpern, Grand Cru is a three-day event that includes a live auction, wine tastings, and exclusive private dinners hosted in homes across Toronto, and has become one of the city’s premier fundraising celebrations.
This is the largest single philanthropic gift to date in support of UHN Foundation’s $300M fundraising campaign, which will help build the $1.1B tower at UHN’s Toronto Western campus – the largest capital project in UHN’s history. Slated for completion in 2028, the new 15-storey surgical tower will be purpose-built to prioritize the experience of patients and their families, featuring 82 private patient rooms, new critical care beds, and 20 state-of-the-art operating rooms equipped with the latest robotic equipment and real-time imaging technology. The tower is anticipated to add capacity to the health care system, helping increase surgeries by 20% and addressing wait times and surgical backlog in Ontario.
“We are proud to contribute to such a momentous project that will help transform patient care in our community,” said the families in a joint statement. “We make this gift not only on behalf of our families, but on behalf and in honour of our larger HBNG family, to ensure that UHN can recruit and retain the very best surgical teams in the world by providing them with state-of-the-art infrastructure and equipment.”
Premier Doug Ford was also in attendance at last night’s Grand Cru live auction to help celebrate the gift and thank the families for their generosity.
“On behalf of the province, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the HBNG Charitable Foundation for their generous donation which will help build a new, state-of-the-art patient and surgical tower at Toronto Western Hospital,” said Premier Ford. “This historic gift builds on our government’s $800 million investment, and will help provide high-quality health care for patients here in Toronto and from across Ontario.”
“This tower will revolutionize surgical innovation while also completely transforming how we care for patients and their families,” said Julie Quenneville CEO of UHN Foundation. “We are so grateful to the D’Angelo, Maio and Memme families for their commitment to the well-being of our community, and for helping make UHN’s bold visions a reality. We hope their generosity inspires others to contribute to our mission of helping Canada’s #1 hospital reimagine health care.”
For more information on the tower project or how to get involved, visit uhnfoundation.ca/surgicaltower
For more information on the Grand Cru Culinary Wine Festival, visit grandru.ca
