Over a dozen local donors have now contributed substantial gifts toward the community’s local share of the project. Artist rendering of the future hospital site. Photo credit: Niagara Health
The local private sector has once again stood up tall for the public good.
Last week, the Niagara Health Foundation announced yet another seven-figure gift to the It’s Our Future fundraising campaign.
Niagara Falls’ Michael and Jana Katz have pledged $1 million toward the new South Niagara Hospital.
“We are profoundly grateful to Michael and Jana Katz for their incredible generosity,” said President and CEO of the Niagara Health Foundation Andrea Scott. “Their visionary gift will have a lasting impact on the future of healthcare in our region.”
Before retiring about a decade ago, the Katz’s owned and operated a number of McDonald’s locations around Niagara.
In expressing their motivation behind their donation, Michael and Jana stated, “The reason why people should be willing to get involved is because it’s in everyone’s interest to make sure we have a world class health care system. We want to attract the best people, have the best equipment, and the best facility.”
According to the Katz’s, it was the tireless advocacy and passion of retired executive director of the Greater Niagara General Hospital Foundation Mike Somerville that inspired their gift to the campaign.
“There is no gift too small or too large,” said the Katz’s. “Do what you can because we are all going to use the Niagara Health System one day if you don’t use it now.”
In honour of their generosity, the CT in the new facility’s Diagnostic Imaging department will receive the fitting moniker: “The Katz Scanner”.
The Katz’s $1 million donation is the latest in a series of large gifts provided by community members toward the new South Niagara Hospital.
Other ‘Founding Donors’ include Spencer Fox, Mark Basciano, the Angelo Butera Family, Beth and Tom Rankin and family, Guery Goyo and family, Dominic Dilalla and family, the Oakes Family, McCall MacBain Foundation, Jim Pattison, the Marotta Family, the Sottile Family, the LJ Mian Family, and Tony and Connie Zappitelli and family.
The South Niagara Hospital, located at the corners of Montrose and Biggar roads in Niagara Falls, is set to be a cutting-edge acute care facility, spanning 1.3 million square feet and housing 469 private rooms. Distinguished by its centers of excellence in complex care, wellness in aging and stroke care, the hospital “embodies a vision of advanced healthcare that will attract the foremost talents in the medical field.”
In February 2023, EllisDon Infrastructure Healthcare was awarded a $3.6 billion contract to design, build, finance, and maintain the facility.
Official ground-breaking took place in July.
The multibillion-dollar Niagara Falls facility is one of the single largest design, build, finance, and maintain investments for a new healthcare project in provincial history.
The hospital is set to open summer 2028.
