For the second time in Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) history, one man donated $1 million again. The son of a World War II pilot, David Crook says he watched his parents give back to the Barrie community his whole life. “My parents taught me that giving back to your community was the right thing to do,” Crook says. “It should be part of your budget.” “I’m a Barrie boy all the way,” he says. “There’s not a day that goes by when I’m not grateful to be from here.” According to RVH, Crook’s philanthropy with the hospital began in 1985, but he made his first major donation 11 years ago. In 2015, Crook donated $1 million to the hospital, inspired by the heart attack he suffered years prior while travelling in the United States. “I know what it’s like to need cardiac care away from home,” Crook says. “I had to go through treatment and recovery alone, I never want anyone to experience what I did,” he says. That $1 million donation went toward the establishing of RVH’s two existing cardiac catheterization (cath) labs. According to RVH, these specialized labs allow surgeons to perform minimally invasive procedures, such as rapidly opening a blocked artery during a heart attack. RVH says these two labs are now operating at capacity and work needs to be done on a third lab that was planned for years ago. “Without another cath lab, patients will face longer waits and longer drives for care,” says Gail Hunt, president and CEO of RVH. RVH says the money from Crook’s latest donation will go toward developing the third lab. “David understands something that is at the heart of what we’re working to build at RVH: people shouldn’t have to leave their community to access the advanced care they need,” says Pamela Ross, CEO of RVH Foundation. “His generosity means more patients can face some of the most difficult moments of their lives with their families, their friends, and their community close by, that is an extraordinary gift to this region,” Ross says.
