The Chatham-Kent Health Alliance Foundation (CKHAF) is on the cusp of transforming rural healthcare in its home province of Ontario, Canada. For more than 20 years, the foundation and its predecessors have supported the Chatham and Wallaceburg hospitals in the province, primarily through fundraising initiatives and campaigns, but change is afoot.
Under the enterprising leadership of Christine Mitchell, President and CEO, the foundation is spearheading a novel model of collaborative healthcare that blends philanthropy with private investment, a new direction for the organisation. The goal is not just to sustain these hospitals, but to reimagine healthcare delivery on a wider scale. “Ontario’s healthcare system is under intense strain, with growing wait times for surgeries and specialist appointments, and hospitals stretched beyond capacity,” explains Mitchell. “In this context, philanthropic investment from foundations is not just helpful – it is essential.”
One proposal on the table to generate truly transformative growth is for the foundation to look beyond traditional fundraising models and towards partnerships with private investors through public-private-philanthropic models. For Mitchell, it is about combining philanthropic vision, public-sector mandate and private-sector capital to unlock new sources of sustainable funding, build income-generating ventures and create long-term systemic change for healthcare in Ontario.
CKHAF already raises more than a million Canadian dollars annually to fund vital equipment and upgrades to facilities across its two hospital campuses. Since its inception, the foundation and its predecessors have raised more than 60 million dollars. Recent campaigns have resulted in new, state-of-the-art medical equipment for the Chatham hospital, while the funds currently being raised for the Wallaceburg hospital’s redevelopment project are well on target. It is no surprise, then, that Mitchell won the 2024 Outstanding Fundraising Professional Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Canada, in recognition of this success. In 2022, she was honoured with the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Award for her dedication and service to the community.
Mitchell has even grander plans for the foundation. Strategic initiatives are being evaluated that aim to resolve urgent healthcare needs through strengthened out-of-hospital support, recognising that lasting solutions require care beyond the hospital walls. With a growing homeless population in the region, the need to extend care provision is urgent. Under this scheme, the foundation would be able to build short-term housing alongside medical treatment for all those without a safe home to return to following their hospital visit. This transitional housing would create a secure and sanitary space for the patients to recover, while also easing congestion in hospital wards and freeing up the beds needed for acute and emergency care.
It is a revolutionary idea that, if successful, could be adopted by other hospitals nationally, if not globally. “We focus on being problem-solvers and we believe philanthropy plays a vital role in creating viable solutions for our healthcare needs,” says Mitchell. “We are here to provide care, we are here to live a life of service, to support our communities in any way we can, and the old business model has to change.”
With this collaborative mindset and strategy, the charitable arm of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance is helping to provide continuous, long-term support and care to all of the province’s Southwestern population.
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