Mr. J.R. (Bud) McCaig (represented by Mrs. Ann McCaig)
Launch of the Alberta Bone & Joint Health Institute
Friday, March 26, 2004 - CALGARY, AB
It has been said that...
"People who have accomplished worthwhile work have a very high sense of the way to do things."
They are not content with mediocrity. They have not confined themselves to the beaten track.
They have never been satisfied to do things just as others do them, but are courageous enough to consistently see a "better way."
We are very fortunate in Alberta to have so many people committed to seeking a "better way" when it comes to our health care system.
In fact, our "better way" is to aim for world class and to do everything we can to attain it.
That is why we are so grateful for individuals like Dr. Cy Frank and Dr. Don Dick who, along with many others, have played a critical role in getting us to the point we are at today in the development of the Alberta Bone and Joint Health Initiative, the Alberta Bone & Joint Health Institute, and the Alberta Bone & Joint Centre for Excellence.
I remember working with Dr. Frank on this vision about seven years ago. He could see a better way to treat bone and joint arthritis problems and he was deeply committed to doing something about it.
The restructuring of health care services in Alberta in the 1990s provided the perfect opportunity to begin to design a province-wide, multi-faceted approach to improving and enhancing the treatment and care provided for people with bone and joint problems.
Many of the people who have contributed greatly to the development of this approach are with us today.
I especially want to recognize our Premier, the Honourable Ralph Klein, and Alberta's Minister of Health and Wellness, the Honourable Gary Mar.
Thank you both for coming and for being such committed champions of this vision. Thank you for setting your sights on a world class goal when it might have been easier to settle for something less.
In 2001, the Alberta government committed $125 million to develop a Cardiac Centre of Excellence in Edmonton and $125 million to develop the Bone and Joint Centre of Excellence in Calgary.
In making the announcement, Minister Mar said: "We want to establish Alberta firmly as a leader in these two important areas to meet the needs of our population, physicians and researchers."
With regard to the Bone and Joint area, the Centre, the Institute and the initiative that you are hearing about today will work collaboratively toward this very goal.
Operating under the auspices of the Calgary Health Region, the Alberta Bone and Joint Centre will provide acute care, including surgery, within the public health system, and will align clinical care with medical research.
By adding operating rooms and beds, the Centre will help increase capacity for much needed services and procedures in Alberta.
The Alberta Bone and Joint Health Institute initiative is a province-wide approach to examine how care is delivered.
The initiative will involve all key stakeholders throughout the province including the regional health authorities and universities and, specifically, clinical staff, researchers and educators in the areas of orthopaedics, rheumatology, family medicine, emergency medicine, diagnostic imaging, engineering, kinesiology, and many other areas.
The third part of the overall strategy is the Institute, which is a not-for-profit organization, chaired by myself and Cy Frank, that has been described by some of us as the catalyst for change.
Our vision is that the Institute will become the key vehicle to advance and effect necessary changes in the system. Our initial focus will be on developing new approaches to patient care and service delivery with an emphasis on improving recovery and reducing waiting times.
Please allow me to share some important background information that I think speaks to the reason why Calgary will be so important to the success of this very innovative approach.
As I referenced earlier, the achievements we have had in restructuring health care services in Calgary and building a regional system are important factors.
In addition, we already have world class researchers, specialists and practitioners in place. People like Dr. Cy Frank and Dr. Don Dick.
This nucleus of expertise has been built up over the course of many years and is the result, once again, of what started as a great vision.
It was 12 years ago when I received an invitation from a small group of some of Calgary's most prominent physician practitioners and researchers.
They wanted to tell me about an idea they had to establish a Centre of Excellence to undertake research in joint injury and arthritis.
The group included Dr. Cy Frank, Dr. Marvin Fritzler, Dr. David Hart and a number of others here this afternoon.
I remember going with them to the fourth floor of the Heritage Building. They took me to an unfinished, empty room with concrete walls and a concrete floor.
They began to talk about their plans to transform that room into a dynamic research centre where the brightest minds in science and medicine would be equipped with leading edge technology and given the mandate to search for new and important discoveries in the treatment and prevention of arthritis and joint injuries.
As they described their vision and what it would mean for their patients, I was eager to help them.
What followed was a fundraising campaign called Project Motion, chaired by Dick Haskayne and myself. The campaign raised $3.5 million in support of this vision.
In the years since then, the facility, called the McCaig Centre, has generated research funding of $65 million and now has over 100 people doing research, education and clinical work.
It is regarded as the number one leading centre for bone and joint research in North America and a big part of the reason why Calgary must be such an important part of these new and exciting plans we are announcing today regarding bone and joint health.
You don't need to do any complex math calculations to see that a $3.5-million investment from the community 12 years ago has returned an additional $65 million worth of research to the community and a level of medical service to thousands that cannot be measured in dollars and cents.
The truth is the generosity and willingness to help found among the leading philanthropists in our city have dramatically impacted the quality of service we are able to provide throughout our health and medical system.
We have what I would call a winning formula in Alberta: Donors are motivated to give because of the vision of the researchers and medical professionals and the top medical people are attracted here because of the outstanding and generous support of the community.
That is truly our competitive advantage.
Through the efforts of some of Calgary's leading citizens, this winning formula has produced a variety of remarkable enhancements to our health system.
The McCaig Centre that we just spoke of is one of them. Please consider these other examples:
- Al Libin has committed $15 million to the new Alberta Cardiovascular Institute.
- Ken Stephenson is raising $2 million to support the Cardiovascular Institute.
- Harley Hotchkiss has made a very generous contribution to the Brain Institute.
- Al Markin has demonstrated his very substantial commitment to the area of prevention and wellness.
- BJ, Doc and Don Seaman made a $2-million donation to create the Seaman MRI Centre that has since generated nine times that amount in research grants and financial support and, as a result, we have the only interoperative MRI in Canada.
The Seaman MRI Centre is also home to a Three T-MRI, which has been instrumental in developing the Southern Alberta Stroke Program making Calgary the best place in Canada to be treated for stroke.
In addition to these examples of individuals who have stepped forward to make a difference, the health care system has also benefited tremendously from the work of a team of individuals who, nine years ago, under the umbrella of the Partners in Health campaign, raised over $50 million.
That team was headed up by Harley Hotchkiss, Dick Haskayne, Mona Libin, and the late Jack Macleod and many others in this room.
Partners in Health was all about raising funds to help advance a vision to create centres of excellence in areas of core strength and, toward that end, the $50 million that was raised has, since 1995, generated $265 million in additional funds.
You can see that we have already put in place a foundation of medical excellence in this province that we believe is second to none.
It is this kind of support and what I like to call its multiplier effect in raising additional funds that has enabled us to continue building a world-class health care system in Alberta.
Now let's return to the vision before us today: the unique and innovative Alberta approach to bone and joint health.
Over the years, I have been privileged to get to know and to work with Cy Frank. He is the most selfless person I know and I have the utmost respect for him and his work.
There is no one who is better suited or equipped to shepherd and lead this vision to fruition.
The government has done its part by committing $125 million to help put a key piece of the infrastructure in place.
It's now up to us as private citizens of this great province to respond in kind. By working together, there is a lot we can do to effectively and efficiently treat and, where possible, prevent bone and joint problems.
As I said earlier, the Institute will have a key role in effecting change in the system and our first significant objective is to raise $50 million in support of this exciting vision over the next five years.
It is my privilege to announce today that to help get this important fundraising initiative launched, I am personally contributing $10 million.
The plan is to raise another $10 million in Calgary, $10 million in Edmonton and then, over time, use these funds to leverage additional support from the pharmaceutical industry and other funding bodies.
Already, several anonymous donors have contributed to a very important part of the vision and that is the development of an advanced diagnostic imaging centre.
Today, I want to ask you to consider what role you can play.
Please know that I sincerely respect and appreciate the fact that each of you has your own special interest in health and medical services.
I am grateful for that and want to go as far as to suggest that, if you don't have a special interest, you should have!
That being said, I have so much passion for this Institute and its potential to move us that much further along in our pursuit of a world-class public health care system that I must ask you to consider how you can help.
I think sometimes people look at the "public" health care system and almost subconsciously think in mediocre terms. The word "public" can have that effect.
I am so thankful that has never been our way in Alberta but rather, because of you and those who came before you, we have always set our sights much, much higher.
For this reason and for the sake of those who will come after us, our children and grandchildren, we must never be satisfied to do things just as others do them.
But let us continue to seek that "better way." By working together, we can and will create a world-class health and medical system that will outlive all of us as a legacy and an example of what we can do when we refuse to settle for anything less than the best.
Thank you.