Wednesday, 31st May 2006 (1373 views)

Peter Munk, the founder of Barrick Gold, has donated C$37 million to Toronto General Hospital, the largest sum ever received by a Canadian hospital.

Munk's grandfather, father and uncle all died of heart disease and the money will go towards upgrading the facility's Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (PMCC), which he helped create in 1997.

Some of the money will go towards purchasing new scanning equipment that will help identify heart complaints and position the centre at the forefront of heart disease diagnosis. The equipment, some of which is not available anywhere else in North America, allows for precise imaging and minimises the invasiveness of procedures.

Dr Robert Bell, president of the Toronto hospital body the University Health Network, said the money would allow "a giant leap forward in cardiac diagnosis and treatment".

Heart disease is the biggest killer in Canada, causing over a third of all deaths. The PMCC treats around 17,000 patients each year.

Peter Munk arrived in Canada from Hungary as a teenager and made his fortune. Today, Barrick Gold is the world's largest gold company with over 20,000 employees around the globe.

 

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