Céline Dion and René Angélil kick off Healing More Better Campaign, the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation's biggest fundraising goal to date

MONTREAL, Dec. 12, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - Céline Dion and René Angélil, the honourary lifetime patrons of the CHU Sainte-Justine, today kicked off the Healing More Better Campaign and launched the largest fundraising campaign in the institution's history. Along with honourary presidents Jean Coutu and Paul Desmarais, Jr., campaign co-chairs Jacynthe Côté, Pierre Boivin and Serge Godin, and members of the campaign cabinet, they invited the public to join together to support the largest mother-child centre in Canada and raise a total of $150 million by 2018.

Exceptional support for mothers and children in Quebec
"René and I are convinced that the CHU Sainte-Justine has the capacity to provide the brightest possible future for children and mothers in Quebec. Our hope is to inspire Quebecers' tremendous generosity. And then we will continue to do everything in our power to help the CHU Sainte-Justine heal more and more children", Céline Dion said.

Doing more and doing it better
The goal of the Healing More Better campaign is simple: to heal more children in Quebec and to keep doing it better. "Sainte-Justine can achieve new heights in terms of healing," explained Dr. Fabrice Brunet, Chief Executive Officer of the CHU Sainte-Justine. "Our ambitions are high: we want to introduce new child-centred approaches that maximize the synergy between our research, healthcare and teaching teams; we want to invest in research and create prestigious research chairs that attract the best minds; we want to hone the skills of talented young professionals through scholarship programs; and we want to acquire state-of-the-art technologies." He underscored how crucial it is to accelerate innovation and step up the pace of discovery to ensure research makes its way to the patient's bedside as quickly as possible, to encourage early intervention and prevention, and to better pinpoint the causes of disease and develop more personalized treatments.

Accelerating research to improve healing
There will be more medical discoveries in the next decade than in the entire past century. The Healing More Better Campaign is poised to make the most of this explosion of knowledge. "There has never been a better time to build on these major advances," said Pierre Boivin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Claridge Inc. "Our $150-million target may be ambitious, but we are motivated by the enormous courage of the children who are battling illness. Our commitment is to them and we will not stop until every child in Quebec has the best chance for a healthy future."

The Honourable Michael M. Fortier, Chair of the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation Board of Directors and Vice-Chairman, RBC Capital Markets, is confident that this campaign will bring people together and cement Sainte-Justine's leadership role: "The Healing More Better Campaign is truly a forward-looking community effort. Together, we will help develop leading-edge knowledge to continuously improve the health of children of all ages and mothers-to-be throughout Quebec."

As the $150-million campaign gets underway, the honourary presidents and campaign co-chairs firmly believe that this immense undertaking will have a direct and immediate impact on the latest scientific and medical breakthroughs: "Quebecers want what's best for their children, and the CHU Sainte-Justine has been a cherished member of the family over a century," said Jacynthe Côté, Chief Executive of Rio Tinto Alcan. "For the future of our children, it is vital that we take the initiative and be at the forefront," said Serge Godin, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Board of CGI Group, Inc.

About the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation
Through community support, the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation strives to accelerate the pace of the leading-edge research at Sainte-Justine, in an effort to heal more children and do it better. The Foundation is committed to building a healthier tomorrow by delivering a standard of care that is among the best in the world.
www.plusmieuxguerir.org

About Saint-Justine
The Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre is the largest mother-child centre in Canada and one of the four largest pediatric hospitals in North America. Affiliated with the Réseau universitaire intégré de santé de l'Université de Montréal (RUIS), it has 5,153 employees, including 1,392 nurses and auxiliary nurses, and 1,036 healthcare professionals, 510 doctors, dentists and pharmacists, 196 researchers, 300 volunteers and 4,000 interns and medical students. Sainte-Justine has 489 beds, including 40 at the Centre de réadaptation Marie Enfant, the only exclusively pediatric rehabilitation centre in Quebec. The World Health Organization has recognized the CHU Sainte-Justine as a "Health Promoting Hospital." 
www.chu-sainte-justine.org

SOURCE: SAINTE-JUSTINE UHC FOUNDATION

Source:
Sainte-Justine UHC Foundation
www.plusmieuxguerir.org

For more information: 
Myriam Crevier
514 966-1891
[email protected]