St. Mary’s is among the four Montréal organizations that were designated as the beneficiaries of philanthropist Paul Durocher’s exceptional estate gift.
St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation, the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) Foundation, the Société de Saint-Vincent de Paul de Montréal, and the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation were named as the beneficiaries of an exceptional legacy gift from Mr. Paul Durocher, as announced in La Presse.
On June 17, 2024, representatives of these four prominent foundations were gathered in Montréal to celebrate Mr. Durocher’s unprecedented act of generosity. An entrepreneur who made his fortune in the hospitality industry, Mr. Paul Durocher left the totality of his $140 million estate to the charities that were closest to his heart. Our Hospital will receive no less than 30% of Mr. Durocher’s posthumous gift, which is thought to be one of the biggest healthcare-related donations in the history of Québec philanthropy.
We would like to share a statement by our very own Dr. Keith Matthews, the urologist who, by providing outstanding treatment to Mr. Durocher as he was battling cancer, played a pivotal role in anchoring Mr. Durocher’s commitment to St. Mary’s.
“It was an honour to have met and treated Mr. Paul Durocher,” said Dr. Matthews. “As he recovered from life-threatening cancer, he felt very grateful for the care he received at St. Mary’s. While most patients with this type of cancer suffer dramatic after-effects, the surgeries and treatment he underwent significantly improved the quality of his last 10 years of life. Mr. Durocher is now giving back to St. Mary’s in an extraordinary way.”
After receiving attentive care at our Hospital for several years, Mr. Durocher is now, through his bequest, ensuring that others in our community will have access to the same life-changing services he enjoyed.
“St. Mary’s is humbled to receive Mr. Durocher’s transformational gift, which is a moving gesture of faith in our Hospital’s mission and in the people who make up our outstanding community,” said Cynda P. Heward, President and CEO of St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation. “As we celebrate our 100th anniversary this year, I am certain that Mr. Durocher’s contribution will have nothing short of an extraordinary impact as we embark on the next century of care at St. Mary’s.”
You can read the joint press release here.
