The 24th annual University of Ottawa Heart Institute Telethon raised more than $7 million Sunday following a highly successful four hour fundraising event.
The telethon, held jointly at the Heart Institute and CTV Ottawa in the market, raised a grand total of more than $7.7 million.
Dr. Thierry Mesana, President and CEO of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, says the funds raised today will help current and future patients at the Ottawa Heart Institute.
“The money that we raise from the telethon always goes towards research and innovation and improving patient care,” Dr. Mesana says. “At the end of the day, it goes towards helping people and nothing else.”
The Ottawa Heart Institute treats more than 80,000 patients annually, and provides cardiovascular training to more than 100 physicians every year.
Patients, doctors, donors, television personalities, and first responders were on hand Sunday to help.
Don Hopps was among dozens of volunteers. His father invented the pacemaker in 1949, an invention that revolutionized cardiac medicine, and says the hospital is close to his heart.
“Being a big guy, you never know when you are going to be using it,” he says.
“It’s a great hospital, a great institute.”
According to Jim Orban, the President and CEO of the Heart Institute Foundation, the telethon is one of the foundation's most important fundraising events. He says it's a chance for the hospital to tell important stories, and to share updates with members of the community at large.
"The telethon is really our opportunity, at least once a year, to tell our story in the community," he says.
CTV's Graham Richardson and Carol Anne Meehan anchored the highly anticipated fundraiser. It aired on CTV Ottawa from 3-7 p.m. Sunday, March 1, 2015.
Last year’s telethon raised more than $6.8 million.
