A Generous Donation from BMO to Advance Research in Mental Health, Trauma Care, and Thoracic Surgery
The Montreal General Hospital Foundation is delighted to announce a generous contribution of $1.5 million from BMO towards advancing vital initiatives in three key areas: mental health, trauma care, and thoracic surgery. This donation will fuel three significant and transformative projects aimed at addressing pressing challenges in healthcare.
1. The Centre for Precision Psychiatry
Mental health disorders remain a significant challenge, globally. One of the main reasons for this is the reliance on symptom-based diagnosis and treatment, which overlooks biological underpinnings. To address this gap, Dr. Simon Ducharme, neuropsychiatrist and a clinician-scientist, in collaboration with the Montreal General Hospital Foundation, established the Centre for Precision Psychiatry. This centre will collect clinical information, biological samples, and brain imaging data from 1,000 consenting psychiatric patients over 10 years. This long-term analysis will allow researchers to determine whether biological markers for mental illnesses exist or not, thus paving the way for better diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for patients. BMO’s donation will help develop this new resource and make it freely available to all researchers working to advance mental health care.
2. A Trauma Fellowship at the Dr. David S. Mulder Trauma Centre
The Dr. David S. Mulder Trauma Centre at the Montreal General Hospital (MGH-MUHC) plays a vital role as a front-line, life-saving service in Quebec, claiming one of the highest survival rates for complex trauma cases in Canada. Nonetheless, preventable traumatic injuries, especially among young people, remain a serious concern. The donation from BMO will aid in funding a fellowship to support prevention, training, and research initiatives at the Trauma Centre, ultimately leading to more lives saved and, hopefully, fewer traumatic injuries.
3. The Division of Thoracic Surgery
The MGH-MUHC Division of Thoracic Surgery has the largest esophageal cancer program in Canada and one of the largest lung cancer programs nationwide. With its highly specialized team of clinicians, surgeons and researchers, the Division is committed to advancing personalized care and reducing the invasiveness of surgery for thoracic cancers. The donation from BMO will further support innovative research projects aimed at revolutionizing cancer care and improving life expectancy for patients.
“The Montreal General Hospital is a pioneering institution that shares with BMO a history of more than 200 years and a strong presence in the Montreal community, as well as throughout Quebec. Through these three priorities, we are proud to contribute to making the Montreal General Hospital’s bold ideas a reality and to support cutting-edge medical expertise that is sure to make a difference in the lives of thousands of patients.” Grégoire Baillargeon, President, BMO Quebec and Vice-Chair, BMO Capital Markets.
“This generous gift from BMO underscores the importance of philanthropy in driving excellence and innovation within the healthcare landscape. The Montreal General Hospital Foundation extends its heartfelt gratitude to BMO for their ongoing support, which is instrumental in realizing these transformative initiatives.” Stephanie Riddell, President & CEO, Montreal General Hospital Foundation.
The MGH Foundation applauds BMO’s commitment to philanthropy:
BMO Gives. Good grows here.
Helping communities thrive by supporting the organizations that sustain them and encouraging employee giving and volunteerism is at the heart of BMO’s Purpose, to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life. In 2023, our social impact included more than $84 million donated to hundreds of charities and non-profit organizations across North America to help drive progress by enabling individuals to thrive and communities to prosper. Our colleagues spent almost 62,000 hours volunteering in the community and contributed more than $31.2 million of donations through our annual employee giving program. For more information, please visit BMO.com
About BMO Financial Group
BMO Financial Group is the eighth largest bank in North America by assets, with total assets of $1.3 trillion as of January 31, 2024. Serving customers for 200 years and counting, BMO is a diverse team of highly engaged employees providing a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management, global markets and investment banking products and services to 13 million customers across Canada, the United States, and in select markets globally. Driven by a single purpose, to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life, BMO is committed to driving positive change in the world, and making progress for a thriving economy, sustainable future, and inclusive society.
