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Assemblée générale annuelle - Rapports

COURAGE.  One word that means so many different things, to so many different people. For those who have been touched by cancer – courage can mean finding the strength to undergo treatment.
For those who are watching a loved one battle the disease – they find the courage to provide support and comfort at some of the most difficult times. The researchers show courage with every new study, every new idea that could one day translate into a new treatment for cancer patients.
For the Cancer Foundation, the Courage Campaign represents our commitment to increase cancer survivorship. We are dedicated to raising $50 Million, and we will put those dollars into action in our region to ensure local hospitals have the resources they need to address the issues of wait times and care close to home.
By investing in the development of the MAPLESOFT Centre we are creating a service that will provide resources for cancer patients and their caregivers - ones that will educate and empower them. By investing in regional hospitals, and the survivorship centre we are strengthening both sides of the system.
It was 15 years ago that a small, but united group of community leaders came together to form the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. They were dedicated to improving cancer care in our community, expanding services across Eastern Ontario, purchasing state-of-the-art equipment and attracting the best doctors, professionals and researchers to our community.
I am proud to report that 15 years later the Cancer Foundation is still grounded in those core values.  We believe that survivorship happens one victory at a time.  Together we can make the next one happen.
For more detail on how our funds are making a difference please click here for our 2010 Annual Report to the Community.

Report Archives

Cancer Foundation — Report to our community 2010

Cancer Foundation — Report to our community 2009

Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation Annual Report 2007

Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation Annual Report 2006

Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation Annual Report 2005

Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation Annual Report 2004

Report to our community 2009

President's Message

In our community today, 16 people* will walk into their doctor’s office and hear: “YOU have cancer.”

But there is hope. Thanks to your donations supporting innovative research and treatment, more and more people are surviving the disease.

The Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation is dedicated to helping people in our region survive cancer. That’s why we support and work with those who understand survivorship best: survivors themselves. Working together and drawing on their strength and involvement, we help ensure that cancer patients and survivors in Eastern Ontario have the medical, emotional and social support they need. We help make sure there is sustained access to the most advanced services and treatments by supporting
leading local researchers and health care professionals through our fundraising activities. And we work every day to help more cancer patients become cancer survivors.

We are the only charitable organization dedicated exclusively to cancer in this region, and the most significant philanthropic contributor to cancer care and research in our community. By raising the most dollars in our community and allocating the most funds locally to fight cancer, your Cancer Foundation works as a partner to improve the odds of survivorship by supporting the work being done at hospitals across the region that provide cancer care.

Each year in April, The Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation puts out the call to all cancer centre staff for funding proposals. Numerous innovative cancer research, treatment and patients’ education applications are received and a committee of cancer care professionals, researchers and board members are tasked with reviewing each proposal and awarding funds that will continue to drive survivorship in our region by focusing on our four strategic priorities: shorter wait times, close to home care, access to research and new therapies and overall improved quality of life.

This past year, the Cancer Foundation provided grants ranging from $14,000 for a palliative care bed at Arnprior & District Memorial Hospital to more than $1 million for cancer research projects at the Ottawa Health Research Institute. Our annual call for proposals generated 55 requests for funding this year. We are proud to announce that 40 projects were approved and funded by the Cancer Foundation Grants Committee.

The Cancer Foundation is putting the money we raise in our region at work here in Eastern Ontario for local cancer patients. Thanks to the generosity of our community here’s how the Cancer Foundation is making an impact.

Shorter Wait Times

The 2009 referral to consult provincial standard is 14 days. In our region, this standard is met in 55% of cases.

In order to address to the issue of wait times for cancer patients, the Cancer Foundation has pledged $12 million to the expansion of The Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre, the new Irving Greenberg Family Cancer Centre at the Queensway Carleton Hospital, and we are exploring new partnerships with other local health care facilities in this region to expand their cancer services.

In 2009, the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation designated $2.2 million to help reduce wait times.

The Cancer Foundation actively searched for programs and diagnostic equipment needs that would make a positive impact and help decrease the time patients have to wait. Here are some examples of how we are putting your dollars to work:

• Dedicated MRI time for cancer patients at the Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre. This donation has allowed the Ottawa Hospital to add 202 incremental hours to perform MRI scans for cancer patients.
  
  
• Dedicated breast biopsy table at the Montfort Hospital. Biopsy followed by pathological microscopic analysis is the only definitive way to determine if cancer is present.
  
  
• State-of-the-art endoscopic ultrasound program at the Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre - Prior to the implementation of the program, patients had to undergo surgical procedures or be referred for care outside of our community. This program now enables the Ottawa Hospital Cancer Centre to provide minimally invasive state-of-the-art care to cancer patients.
  
  
• Improved access to CT services for cancer patients living in Eastern Ontario. This donation has allowed the Ottawa Hospital to add 115 incremental hours to perform CT scans that was dedicated to cancer patients in the region.

“ Waiting... one of the tougher moments of the cancer battle. The wait means no news, no answers, no launch of attack... just a painful “time out” while you try and deal with what is happening. Knowing that your wait is now merely a “pause” that puts you one step closer to the best treatments around.” - Brian Doan, Testicular Cancer Survivor since 1997.

2008-09 Allocations by Strategic Priority:

Research + New Therapies

Government, hospital and pharmaceutical industry cutbacks have created an urgent need for financial assistance to begin, maintain or complete clinical trials. Clinical trials continue to be one of the fastest ways to find better treatments and bring researchers closer to finding a cure for cancer. Here in our community 9.8% of cancer patients participate in the clinical trials program.

The Cancer Foundation provides vital seed funding to local scientists, allowing them to begin their research projects and use those initial results to secure larger national and international grants. This year, the Cancer Foundation made an investment of more than $1.6 million for clinical and laboratory research by funding over 20 projects.

Here are some examples of those dollars at work:

• Breast clinical research to determine novel approaches to the treatment of bone metastasis in breast cancer patients.
  
  
• Pilot study of the beliefs, feelings and decisions about breast cancer risk, and ways to lower that risk among women referred to the High Risk Breast Assessment Clinic of The Ottawa Hospital’s Women’s Breast Health Centre.
  
  
• Evaluation of the mechanisms of late radiation side effects in patients with prostate cancer – translational research – companion study to a Phase II Clinical Trial.
  
  
• Clinical research predicting tumour susceptibility< to oncolytic virus cancer research on human tumour samples (Dr. John Bell at right).
  
  
• Microscope upgrade for live cell imaging providing immediate benefit to a number of scientists in the Cancer Therapeutics program who are working towards a better understanding of the basic mechanisms of carcinogenesis, better methods of molecular diagnosis and novel therapeutic regimes for cancer patients in Eastern Ontario.

“There are large expenses involved in running radiation therapy clinical trials and unfortunately they’re not all funded by private industry as many others are. Without proper funding, Ottawa could miss out on some of the most important ongoing research in the race to find a cure for cancer.” – Dr. Grimard and Dr. Perry, TOHCC.

Source of Revenue for 2008-2009

The Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation has experienced unprecedented growth over the last few years. The Cancer Foundation raises funds through numerous revenue streams – Major Gifts, Direct Mail, Signature and Special Events, In Memoriam and in Honour Program and Planned Giving Legacy Gifts.

Close To home Access + Care

Eastern Ontario covers a large geographical area with the hub for cancer treatment taking place in Ottawa. Some residents living outside Ottawa have to travel longer distances to receive treatment – taking them away from their network of family and friends.

The Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation is working to provide close to home care and allocated $660,000 towards developing
cancer services in partner hospitals in smaller communities in our region including:

• Winchester, Renfrew and Pembroke. This year we funded 15 proposals that had an immediate impact for providing closer to home care for our region. These services allow patients to receive treatment in their own communities, surrounded by their family and friends.
• Purchase of a colonoscope for colorectal cancer screening at the Pembroke Regional Hospital.
• Development of a symptom management program at the Renfrew Victoria Hospital providing improved access to cancer services closer to home for the county and its surrounding area.
• The purchase of furnishings for palliative care suite at Deep River and District Hospital helping to provide comfort and the home-like environment for patients and their families.
• Equipment to improve early detection of colorectal cancer at Carleton Place & District Memorial Hospital.
• Implementation of a Cancer Care/Palliative Care Coordinator at the Cornwall Community Hospital.
• New day Surgery and Ambulatory Care Unit: Specifically Endoscope - at the GlengarryMemorial Hospital.

Improved Quality of Life

The diagnosis of cancer often leads to a crisis of the body, mind and spirit. While resources are available to diagnose and treat the disease at the medical level, support available through the health care system in Ottawa and the region is limited and primarily focused on the acute phases of llness.

This year the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation allocated a total of just under $1 million to fund supportive care programs that improve the lives of cancer patients and their families.

The Cancer Foundation has begun work to open the doors to Wellspring Ottawa – a facility which will provide programming and
workshops that are unique to Eastern Ontario in order to meet the needs of local cancer patients and their caregivers. The programs will cover a wide range of topics including health and fitness, financial and legal aid as well as coping mechanisms for dealing with a cancer diagnosis, the disease itself and its effects on patients and family members.

Wellspring Ottawa will complement existing cancer care in our region and will be offered without referral and free of charge.

2008-2009 Board of Directors