Russ Boyles said he was intrigued when, after joining Health Sciences North's board of directors about a decade ago, he listened to a presentation by local pediatrician Dr. Sean Murray.
Murray spoke about the need for an expanded pediatric hospital care facility — known as NEO Kids — here in Greater Sudbury.
“The board accepted his vision, and since then, has started to work to make that a reality,” said Russ, a retired chartered accountant and a former chair of HSN's board of directors.
So deeply does he believe in Murray's vision for NEO Kids that he and wife Roberta have made a $250,000 donation to the project.
Family members — including their seven young grandchildren — joined the couple at the Aug. 21 press conference where they announced their gift.
“We never thought we would ever be in a position we could give that kind of money,” said Roberta. “It's an honour to be able to do it.”
She said four of their seven grandchildren live in Greater Sudbury, and she wants to see ease of access to children's health-care for them and others who live in this area.
“We personally know of many families travelling to southern Ontario for treatment for their kids,” Russ said. “Kids are the North's future. Let's treat them as the first-class citizens that they are.”
Even though the idea has already been around for a long time, NEO Kids is still in the planning stages, said HSN president Dominic Giroux.
The hospital has received a $500,000 grant to further develop the project, which will be integrated into the hospital's strategic plan and capital master plan, coming out next year.
Boyles said he realizes that it may be a while before the NEO Kids project becomes a reality.
“It will happen just as the cancer centre happened, just as the PET scanner happened,” he said.
“These projects faced rejection and required persistence and political support along the way, but in the end, there was success. NEO Kids has come a long way in raising funds, but we are not there yet. Today's announcement gets us a little closer.”
NEO Kids Foundation president Patricia Mills said she's “thrilled” with the Boyles' donation, which brings the amount raised for the cause to date to $6.5 million.
The Boyles “embody exactly the typical family,” she said.
“They have seven grandchildren,” Mills said. “None of their children have had serious diseases, but at least three of them have had to see a pediatrician, and they've had to leave town for treatment.
“They understand first-hand how important it is that these children should be treated closer to home.”
