The QEII Health Sciences Centre is everyone’s hospital. Patients come from across Atlantic Canada for the most advanced patient care available and the QEII attracts some of the world’s leading clinicians and scientists. As a research and training institution, the QEII’s mandate includes developing new treatments and patient care methods as well as training the next generation of healthcare professionals. The QEII is here for you and your family, 24-7.

At the QEII Foundation, we believe in the power of collaboration. When we open our hearts, our minds and our arms to others, new creative opportunities emerge. That’s why we are so proud to bring you this eighth edition of QEII Times in collaboration with The Chronicle Herald. Supported by our wonderful advertisers, QEII Times is a perfect example of what can be accomplished if we enthusiastically embrace a sense of working together.

We whole heartedly believe in the recommendations by the 2014 Ivany Report from the Nova Scotia Commission on Building our New Economy. We have to work together in order to build a more robust, prosperous and healthy community. The report states “there is a clear need for Nova Scotia to come together and consider not only who gets what from our collective pie, but how we can make a bigger pie for all to share.” The QEII Foundation shares this vision for our future which is why we devote considerable time to working with our natural partners to create a healthier and more prosperous region. We also believe that health matters most.

The QEII Foundation has participated in many partnerships and strategic alliances over the past few years. We have worked with our friends at the IWK Foundation to create the new Breast Health Centre, partnered with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada to raise funds for blood disorders, collaborated with the Canadian Cancer Society to advance research into pancreatic cancer, worked with the Foundation for Fighting Blindness in support of vision care, as well as many other wonderful organizations. This fall, thanks to the vision and support of the law firm Stewart McKelvey, we are working with the Halifax Chamber of Commerce to tell the story of the QEII, the triumphs and challenges that patients and their families experience and to celebrate the power of working together with a common goal.

We are also proud to be working closer with the Maritime Heart Centre who has devoted the last 40 years to improving heart health in our region. Our region leads the country in cardiovascular disease and we need to change this. By working together, the QEII Foundation and the Maritime Heart Centre will champion disease prevention, advance patient care technology, support heart health research, and reduce the burden of heart disease for Atlantic Canadians. If you, your family or friends have been touched by heart disease and would like to help, please contact the QEII Foundation. We would love to hear from you.

Enjoy this edition of QEII Times. We would love to get your feedback, answer your questions and if possible, entice you to join us in our efforts to improve the health of Atlantic Canadians. Together, we can change the future of health care in this region. As the Ivany Report stated, “...the status quo is not an option.”

We’d like to invite you to be part of the transformation we need in our economy, our healthcare system and our region. I hope you enjoy reading your copy of QEII Times.