The Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation has reached its $30-million fundraising target several months ahead of schedule to support a new Cardiac Centre of Excellence at Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge, foundation officials announced this week.
Fundraising milestone accelerates project timeline
The campaign — known as Bringing Hearts Home — surpassed its goal before its planned end date of January 2027. Foundation CEO Crystal Elliott said the drive attracted more than 1,200 donors, and the most recent major gift came from G. Thompson Livestock Co., which donated $500,000.
“Over 1,200 donors to date have stepped up and in to walk beside us on this journey to bringing hearts home,” said Crystal Elliott.
Combined with provincial funding, the secured funds mean the project will now move into the design phase. The plan calls for the addition of 30 beds dedicated to cardiac care and for attracting skilled cardiologists to the south zone.
Local consequences for care and access
Physicians involved with the campaign have highlighted a disparity in outcomes for people living south of Calgary. They told the foundation that longer transfers to larger centres can increase the risk of fatality for some cardiac patients because travel times are too long or because critically ill patients are too unstable to be moved.
“The community has been so incredibly generous that we have exceeded our goal in a shorter amount of time than was expected,” said Dr. Sayeh Zielke, a cardiologist and pioneer of the campaign.
- Project target: $30 million
- Donor support: more than 1,200 individual and corporate contributors
- Planned capacity increase: 30 cardiac beds
Foundation representatives framed the campaign as a community-wide effort. Local leaders and rural donors emphasized the importance of having timely heart care close to home, particularly for southern Albertans who currently face longer drives for specialist services.
What comes next
With the fundraising target met, the project will proceed to detailed design work. That phase will determine timelines for construction and staffing, and will shape how the new centre integrates with current services at Chinook Regional Hospital. Officials have not released a construction start date or completion timeline beyond indicating the campaign reached its goal well before the campaign’s January 2027 target.
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Fundraising goal | $30,000,000 |
| Donors to date | 1,200+ |
| Additional beds planned | 30 |
| Major recent donation | $500,000 (G. Thompson Livestock Co.) |
For Lethbridge and the broader south zone, the campaign’s success represents a step toward localizing acute cardiac care and reducing the need for time-sensitive transfers to centres farther north. Health officials say that could translate into lives saved and fewer long-distance patient transfers; foundation leaders now turn their attention to completing the design and implementation steps required to make the Cardiac Centre operational.
