The new testing machines will run up to 210 tests each day at Humber River Hospital, with results coming back in 75 minutes.

We are beyond grateful to share that our community has come together to answer the call for enhanced COVID-19 testing.  Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we have raised $233,000 in three short weeks to purchase and operate three brand new COVID-19 rapid testing machines for Humber River Hospital.

These machines will be put to use right away at Humber to detect this deadly virus in patients now, but will also be vitally important as services in the hospital re-open and rapid testing must be done to keep patients and staff safe.

With these new King Fisher Duo Prime Instruments, the team at Humber will be able to:

• Reduce wait times for patients to receive results by running up to 210 tests each day, right at the Hospital with results coming back in 75 minutes. Currently, Humber is referring tests to Toronto Public Health Labs and other labs where the turnaround time is 1-6 days.
• Prioritize “stat” patients and frontline staff testing. For frontline staff, having results in 75 minutes eliminates the need to self-isolate for days until results return. If negative, staff will be able to continue working in a healthcare system that is relying on them to care for patients.
• Increase access to care for the community by rapidly testing patients and staff when other areas such as surgery and clinics re-open for service.

“I would like to thank our donors for providing the funds to purchase these instruments,” states Dr. William Dubinski, Chief of Pathology and Medical Lab Director, Humber River Hospital.  “Because of their generosity, we can expand our testing capacity and ramp up procedures and surgeries that have been delayed until this point.”

These amazing fundraising results were made possible thanks to a generous gift match challenge launched by Upper Crust who pledged to match every gift made up to $100,000 for a total of $200,000 for the new machines. The cause resonated with many of their staff and partners who made generous donations and also with many community members, who, through major gifts, helped to not only reach the Upper Crust gift match, but surpass it.

“I’ve proudly been a Board Member of Humber River Hospital Foundation for several years, helping to serve the community in which our team at Upper Crust lives and works,” states Carmela Serebryany, President of Upper Crust.  “As the battle against the coronavirus pandemic rages on, our team knew we wanted to support our Hospital and help people access important healthcare services such as surgeries and clinic appointments when the Hospital re-opens.  Rapid testing will help make that possible and I thank all our team members, suppliers and friends for their donations.”

The generosity continued last week when the team at IC Savings announced their lead gift of $60,000 in response to the gift match. The credit union is a long-time supporter of Humber, having pledged $1 million in 2012 to the hospital’s building campaign and president and CEO Fausto Gaudio also served as the campaign chair.

“Humber has been part of our shared community for decades and we are proud to lend our support to a hospital that has always been there for us and our members,” states Fausto Gaudio, President and CEO, IC Savings.  “We stand in solidarity with the frontline teams who have been battling this pandemic for months. It is our hope that this expanded testing will help in their fight.”