Foothills Medical Centre

Young, healthy and strong, Terry’s life changed in an instant. At just 27 years old, Terry was in an accident that changed his life and that of his wife, Carly.

Melanie Zhao began her nursing career in Cardiology and Internal Medicine in 2018. A graduate from the University of Calgary, she always found herself loving the learning aspect of her studies and thought that teaching nursing in the future would be a path she would like to explore.

Sarah, at just 35 years old, was found in her home unconscious with her young son by her side. She was rushed to the hospital where doctors began to try and unravel the complexities of her neurocritical emergency.

Seventeen years have passed since Heather Bala-Edwards left the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the Foothills Medical Centre with her new baby, Adam, in her arms. For Heather, it feels like a lifetime has passed since that time but reliving the memories makes it feel like yesterday for her.

Audrey and Doug had just celebrated their son Ryan’s 32nd birthday. Following the celebration, Audrey and Doug then left to go on their trip to Australia, but their trip was cut short as they received a call that would forever change their lives.

In June of 2022, Kelsey Neale was awarded the Florence and Lloyd Cooper Alberta Registered Nurses Educational Trust (ARNET) scholarship for her research surrounding delirium following cardiovascular surgery.

Today, Blair is a bright, healthy, and vibrant young boy who recently celebrated his third birthday. But he spent the first 94 days of his life in the Foothills Medical Centre’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) after being born at just 27 weeks, 4 days, weighing 1,234 grams.

January is all about saying thank you to all of our donors who we appreciate so much! Without donors like you, we wouldn’t be able to do the necessary work to advance and revolutionize health care outcomes.

As a mother of three children, Stephanie had an emotional tie with the Newborns Need campaign and the Foothills Medical Centre (FMC) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and excitedly volunteered as a co-chair. Her youngest child spent the first 12 days of their life in the NICU.

TransAlta is investing $2 million in the future of Southern Alberta families with their generous donation to Calgary Health Foundation’s Newborns Need campaign.

Fully funded, Calgary Health Foundation’s $66M Newborns Need fundraising campaign will create a 58 bed, leading-edge, level 3 NICU at Foothills Medical Centre.

At just 35, Sarah Reid suffered a stroke that left her unconscious at home with her four year old son, Kolten, helplessly at her side. When Kolten was two, his father suffered a catastrophic brain injury and within two short years passed away.

Neurocritical care saves lives and is an essential link to the chain of survival and recovery after facing neurological injuries.

In 2013, Calgary Health Foundation funded the second Interventional Trauma Operating Room (iTOR) in the world, right at Foothills Medical Centre. The only other iTOR was located in Sydney, Australia.

Laura, a mother of two and grade 5 teacher, was always hard on herself and didn’t know why it took her a lot of mental energy and work to do well in school compared to her peers. But after the birth of her second child just prior to the global pandemic, the pressures increased and she experienced a mental health crisis.

Thanks to an ongoing partnership with the National Music Centre/Studio Bell, JB Music Therapy and the generous support of our community, we’ve made it possible to provide life-changing experiences for patients through music therapy in our hospitals.

Proceeds from Enerplus’ Touch of Tartans fundraising events over the past five years have supported the vital work of University of Calgary neuroscientists Dr. Alim Mitha, his colleagues, and students as they continue to make new discoveries to treat people with brain aneurysms.

As a mother with two young children, Kate Fischer eagerly volunteered for the Newborns Need campaign to make big changes in maternal and newborn health.

Marilyn and Garth were visiting a relative at Foothills Medical Centre when they passed by a “tiny, bare bones” Health Trust (now Foundation) office. That was 20 years ago.

In October of 2020, 20 year old Julian was in a horrific car accident while on his way home from celebrating a friend’s birthday. For the first week in his long recovery, Julian received care at Foothills Medical Centre, before being transferred to Carewest Glenmore for specialized care of the Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation Unit (MSK).

Diagnosis versus identity. Patient is versus patient has.

In honour of World Prematurity Day on November 17, BMO Financial Group made a donation of $600,000 to support Canada’s busiest neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Foothills Medical Centre.

Support for our tiniest and most fragile newborns propels fundraising for Newborns Need campaign.

This Remembrance Day, we acknowledge one of our donors Harold Kearl, a veteran, a husband, a father and a supporter of music therapy.

As expectant parents to triplets, Shane and Tanya were eagerly anticipating meeting their three daughters at the 34-week gestation milestone; a delivery plan was in place, and a Caesarean section was scheduled in advance, due to the complicated delivery that commonly accompanies the arrival of triplets.

When Kristine Russell gave birth to her daughter Ellie after an uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery, she and her husband Steven had no idea that the Southern Alberta Neonatal Transport Services (SANTS) team would have such a huge impact on their lives.

Largest project of its kind in Canada launches in Calgary

Creating opportunities for personalized health care delivery by facilitating internationally renowned cardiac research with support exceeding $7.7M towards the Stephenson Cardiac Imaging Centre.

Giving cardiology patients better outcomes when minutes count with $5M in support to create a specialized, hybrid operating room at Foothills Medical Centre that facilitates multiple procedures in one place.

An enhanced Pregnancy and Infant Loss Program at the Foothills Medical Centre’s Early Pregnancy Assessment Clinic  provides new space and increased privacy for women and families who’ve experienced a miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death.

A specialized health unit at Foothills Medical Centre has been saving dozens of lives.

For people like Krystin, going through the challenges of the pandemic has meant relying on learned coping strategies, her support system and online counselling visits for maintaining her mental wellness.

“They bring so much joy to my life. I can’t imagine what would have happened to them if it weren’t for the amazing health care we have”

Shortly after Yalda gave birth to her son, she noticed she didn’t feel quite right. She’d chalked her sadness and trouble concentrating up to a typical bout of the “baby blues.

When Lindsay and Mike McTavish imagined how life was going to be with their unborn son, they pictured something sweet. Sure, there’d be the sleepless nights and diapers, but on the whole it would be filled with the typical magic parents talk about.

There’s not much that can prepare a family to go from enjoying a Stampeders’ game day and BBQ, to seeing their newborn baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, all within 12 hours. For Maya’s family, a significantly premature delivery meant the stakes became much higher than the rivalry between two CFL teams on one July afternoon – it became a matter of life or death.