New research reveals unseen impact of care as North York General launches half- billion-dollar fundraising campaign

70 per cent of Canadians hide or minimize impact of caring for others, reflecting the focus of NYG’s Here for Life campaign

TORONTO, September 29, 2026 — When a serious illness, injury or medical emergency happens, there is the person receiving care – and then there’s everyone around them. New national research commissioned by North York General (NYG) is putting a number to that wider impact, as it launches an ambitious fundraising campaign.

NYG’s Canada’s Health Impact Report, conducted by Abacus Data, doesn’t just examine how many Canadians care for someone going through a serious health crisis; rather, it shows how much of that experience they quietly carry themselves. The findings, a first-of-its-kind for the hospital and foundation, reveal a side of healthcare that is rarely measured. Of the three-in-five Canadians who have experienced a serious illness, injury, medical emergency, or hospital stay involving someone close to them, 70 per cent say they hid or minimized the toll the experience was having on them.

Why keep it to themselves?

• The most common reason is a deeply human one — wanting to stay strong for the people around them.
• Others didn’t want to add to someone else’s stress, felt the immediate health situation mattered more than their own needs, or simply preferred to deal with it on their own.
• Interestingly, younger Canadians were also much more likely to keep the impact to themselves, at 85 per cent.

Taken together, the findings point to something patients and families have long understood: a health crisis may happen to one person, but its impact is carried by many — often in ways no one else sees.

“We talk a lot in healthcare about the patient experience, as we should. But every day we also see the experience unfolding around the patient,” said Dr. Everton Gooden, President and CEO, North York General. “It’s the husband trying to stay strong for his wife. The daughter making decisions for her father. The parent sitting beside a sick child. Compassionate care means seeing all of it. That’s what it means to be here for life.”

The research is the first edition of what NYG intends to establish as an annual examination of the human impact of health and healthcare in Canada. Canada’s Health Impact Report will track how serious health experiences affect patients, families and the people who care for them, including the impacts that may never appear in a medical chart.

Here for the Side No One Else Sees campaign

The findings arrive as North York General launches the largest fundraising campaign in its history, with a goal of raising $500 million to help build the next generation of care for one of Canada’s fastest-growing and aging communities. For more than 50 years, NYG has believed that exceptional healthcare is not only about the treatment someone receives, but it’s about how people are treated during some of the most consequential moments of their lives. That belief drives our broader Here for Life campaign, which is brought to life in a new way to highlight NYG’s compassionate care. The campaign shines a light on the often unseen experience of people caring for someone they love through illness, and the fear, vulnerability, exhaustion and emotion they carry while continuing to move through everyday life. The creative follows a husband whose distress goes unnoticed everywhere else until, finally, the NYG staff sees and supports him.

“Those exceptional moments of care at the heart of this brand campaign are what North York General has long been known for — and it would not be possible without the generosity of our community,” said Seanna Millar, President and CEO, North York General Foundation. “Our donors have helped shape NYG at every stage of our history, and they will be essential to realizing the promise of this $500-million transformation. Together, we can build the future of NYG while preserving the deeply human approach to care that has always set it apart.”

North York General is entering the largest period of transformation in its history. The communities NYG serves are growing rapidly and aging, while demand for increasingly complex care continues to rise. Together, in partnership with the Government of Ontario, our $500-million Here for Life campaign will support three priorities: more space for care, more moments of exceptional care, and a future shaped by innovation. At the centre of that transformation are two major projects.

A New Patient Care Tower

A new Patient Care Tower will more than double NYG’s clinical space and integrate new technologies, including AI-enabled tools, into everyday care — designed not just for more space, but for how patients, families and loved ones actually experience it.

Canada’s Largest Long-Term Care Development

NYG is also planning Canada’s largest long-term care development, an integrated campus offering exceptional residential care alongside specialized health and wellness services for a rapidly growing population of older adults.

Together, these investments will allow NYG to serve more people while protecting what has always distinguished its approach to care: seeing the whole person and the people around them. Because behind the numbers in Canada’s Health Impact Report are real people. Their diagnoses and circumstances were different. What they remember is remarkably similar.

“I was a healthy, active 36-year-old when I found myself in the emergency department struggling to breathe, my oxygen levels plummeting to a dangerously low 68 per cent. My care team acted fast — and they saved my life. But what I remember most isn’t just the medicine, it’s the people who delivered it. Every person who walked into my room — doctors, nurses, even the cleaning staff — brought a kindness that lifted my spirits. I felt seen and heard, even in the most daunting moments. I knew I was in the right hands.” — Nicole McGlade

“My father was 86 when he was rushed to North York General by ambulance and spent months in Critical Care. Dr. Geagea always made sure we understood what was happening, and her warmth helped us through such a difficult time. When my father passed, I was sitting with my mother at the funeral home, and the phone rang — it was Dr. Geagea, calling just to offer her sympathy. It was clear that to her, my father wasn’t just another patient. She took time out of her schedule to comfort me, and it made me feel seen in a way I hadn’t anticipated.” — Grace Eng

“In 2022, at 38, I was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer — terrifying news with a wife and infant son at home. From the start, North York General wasn’t just treating my cancer; they were caring for my whole family. Dr. Hameed’s calm and kindness before surgery steadied me, and I’ll never forget the call telling me I was cancer-free. Life can change in an instant, and this hospital was there for every moment of it, for all of us.” — Chris Mammoliti

About North York General

North York General is Canada’s #1 community academic hospital as recognized by Newsweek, with a vision to deliver World-Class Care, 24/7, where care is always on, always coordinated, and always centred around the person. We are among the world’s highest performing hospitals, combining innovation with compassionate, people-centred care. From advances in digital health and AI to new models of care, research and education, we are always looking for better ways to improve health and the patient experience. Home to one of Ontario’s largest birthing centres, a top-performing Emergency Department, Canada’s only breast cancer program accredited by the American College of Surgeons, and comprehensive palliative care, we are also building a new model for seniors’ care. Through every stage of life, North York General is here for life.
About North York General Hospital Foundation

Behind every moment of exceptional care at NYG, there’s a moment of generosity. North York General Foundation raises and stewards the gifts of a community that shows up — so our care teams can carry patients and families through every moment, seen and unseen, that life brings. Our Here for Life campaign will raise $500M from generous donors to achieve our vision and deliver world-class care, 24/7.