Each year in Southwestern Ontario over 2,700 people experience a stroke. After the immediate health crisis, many stroke sufferers experience devastating side effects and arrive at St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph for the rehabilitation and specialized therapy they need to overcome adversity and rebuild their lives.

Rehabilitation takes time and donors play a vital role in the care we provide. In fact, our donors’ generosity helps to provide some of the best stroke rehabilitation care in the province. Almost every rehabilitation patient at St. Joseph’s Health Centre is touched in one way or another by the support of our community.

“At St. Joseph’s, we provide earlier admissions for stroke patients, offer severe stroke sufferers more specialized rehabilitation, and increase rehabilitation intensity wherever possible,” shared David Wormald, President of St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph. “Our healthcare teams see the impact of our efforts when there is improved quality of life for the stroke patients entrusted to our care. But our donors may not always realize the critical role they have in helping people to overcome a significant and often life-changing health crisis.”

Much of our specialized stroke rehabilitation equipment, supplies and resources would not be possible without St. Joseph’s donors. Whether a patient experiences therapy in our Pearson Motion Rehabilitation Garden, benefits from equipment like vital signs monitors and wheelchairs, or is comforted by items like pressure relief products, they are benefiting from the compassion and generosity of our community of donors.

“St. Joseph’s receives funding from the provincial government but it isn’t enough to cover the costs associated with being a leading stroke rehabilitation facility,” explained Sera Filice-Armenio, CEO of St. Joseph’s Health Centre Foundation. “Donations to our Health Centre elevate our innovative programs and specialized equipment from excellent to exceptional.”

The generosity of donors from all across our community enables St. Joseph’s staff to help stroke rehabilitation patients turn a crisis into hope and a new, brighter future.