The John and Myrna Daniels Foundation in Toronto has announced a C$52 million ($37.9 million) gift to establish the Myrna Daniels Seniors Emergency Medicine Centre at University Health Network (UHN).

The largest single gift in support of emergency medicine in Canada will establish what is believed to be the country’s first purpose-built emergency medicine center for seniors, with a full Level 1 geriatric emergency department accreditation as approved by the American College of Emergency Physicians. Scheduled to open in 2025, the center will be housed at UHN’s Toronto Western Hospital and focus on identifying and caring for three groups of older adults: those with mobility, functional, or social support challenges; those at high risk for falls, delirium, and other healthcare-related harm; and those who are in the emergency department waiting for an inpatient bed and are expected to have a long hospital stay due to mobility, functional, or social support issues. 

Across the globe, countries are experiencing a “longevity revolution,” according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. By the year 2050, an estimated one in six people will be age 65 or older, many of whom will have chronic conditions and co-morbidities.

“The development of the Myrna Daniels Seniors Emergency Medicine Centre will solidify UHN as a national leader in caring for older adults,” said Ron Daniels, executive director of the John and Myrna Daniels Foundation and president of Johns Hopkins University. “It’s important we take a proactive approach to the emergency medical care of our aging population, and the center will become a revolutionary model of emergency geriatric care that will become the gold standard both nationally and globally, transform the patient experience, enhance patient safety, and improve patient-oriented outcomes.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/gorodenkoff)