A southern Alberta fundraising campaign for expanded cardiac care has surpassed its $30-million target months ahead of its original deadline, with more than $32 million raised as of early September.
The Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation and the Southern Alberta Cardiac Sciences Advisory Cabinet marked the milestone Thursday at Chinook Regional Hospital, where donors, health-care leaders, elected officials and community partners gathered in an unfinished fourth-floor space that will become part of the hospital’s future cardiac care centre.
The foundation began the Bringing Hearts Home campaign in August 2024, setting out to raise $30 million by the end of January 2027.
The fundraising target was reached in June and the total had climbed past $32 million by Sept. 1, driven by contributions from across southern Alberta.
“This is a celebration of what is possible when an entire region comes together around a shared vision,” Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation CEO Crystal Elliott said. “Every gift and every voice helped build the momentum that brought us here. Our donors believed southern Albertans deserve timely, specialized cardiac care closer to home, and their extraordinary generosity has turned that belief into real progress.”
The fundraising milestone comes as the province moves ahead with a major investment in cardiac and intensive-care capacity in southern Alberta.
The Government of Alberta has committed $320 million to redevelop the cardiac catheterization laboratory and expand intensive care unit and cardiac care unit capacity at Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge. Another $125 million will go toward expanding intensive care and cardiac care capacity at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital.
Budget 2026 provided $59 million over three years to advance the South Zone Cardiac and Intensive Care Unit Project. The provincial project includes a cardiac catheterization lab in Lethbridge and additional intensive-care capacity in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat.
Project signs have been installed at both hospitals and design work is underway. Construction is anticipated to begin in October 2027, with completion targeted for the end of 2031.
Once fully operational, the planned cardiac catheterization laboratory in Lethbridge is expected to serve approximately 1,500 to 1,700 patients each year.
More than 1,300 patients from southern Alberta currently travel to Calgary each year for specialized cardiac care.
The expansion is expected to mean fewer southern Alberta patients will have to leave the region to receive specialized cardiac and critical care.
Lethbridge Mayor Blaine Hyggen, who has advocated for expanded cardiac care in the region for more than a decade, said seeing the future space at Chinook Regional Hospital made the milestone particularly meaningful.
“It doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to end, but we’re just seeing how, I mean, the space being in here, and just knowing that people are going to be in their, literally, probably the worst moment in their lives,” Hyggen said. “To see the space here and be able to look out and go, this is going to be the space where these folks are going to be able to get the care right close to home, where family are close by.”
Hyggen said the campaign has personal significance because of cardiac conditions in his own family.
“From the moment that Dr. Zielke had chatted with me about this, we’ve got cardiac conditions within my family, so it really hit home,” he said. “I said, I’m in, I’m in, I’m all in, what can I do?”
“That was over a decade ago, and to see us to where we’re at now is humbling.”
Hyggen added the campaign’s success demonstrates the strength of communities across southern Alberta.
“Southern Alberta, Lethbridge, they came, they answered the call, and couldn’t be more proud of everything that is done to get us to this point.”
He said contributions of all sizes played a role in reaching the fundraising target.
“All the donors, small, big, having a little girl climb bottles and donate $10 or donate $15,” Hyggen said. “These are the things that make Lethbridge so amazing.”
Dr. Sayeh Zielke, chair of the Southern Alberta Cardiac Sciences Advisory Cabinet, said the project is the result of years of advocacy by physicians, community leaders and others who have pushed for expanded cardiac services in the region.
“Today belongs to every person who carried that vision forward and every donor who chose to believe in it. Surpassing $30 million is more than a fundraising milestone, it brings us closer to the day when patients can receive life-saving cardiac care here in southern Alberta, closer to their families and communities,” Zielke said.
Zielke became part of that advocacy work after arriving in Lethbridge in 2013. In January 2024, she established the Southern Alberta Cardiac Sciences Advisory Cabinet, bringing health-care, community and philanthropic leaders together to develop a regional plan for cardiac services.
The Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation committed to leading the fundraising effort in February 2024.
Fundraising is supporting expanded diagnostic and interventional services, additional critical-care capacity and greater access to prevention and rehabilitation programs in southern Alberta.
Thursday’s celebration also recognized transformational donors whose contributions helped propel the campaign forward.
The Crooks family donated $5 million to the campaign, continuing its involvement in health-care initiatives in southern Alberta.
The Yuill Family Foundation pledged $5 million toward cardiac-care improvements in the Medicine Hat area.
The late Cor Van Raay also left a $2-million legacy gift for cardiac care before the campaign was publicly launched.
Organizers also recognized donors at every level, along with volunteers, businesses, foundations, community organizations and those who organized third-party fundraisers across southern Alberta.
Lethbridge City Hall was scheduled to be lit up Sept. 10 in recognition of Bringing Hearts Home. The tribute honours donors and supporters who contributed to the campaign, organized fundraisers, formed partnerships or helped share its message.
Project signs from Lethbridge and Medicine Hat were displayed together during Thursday’s celebration, highlighting the regional scope of the planned expansion.
Reaching the fundraising target brings southern Alberta closer to expanded cardiac and critical-care services at hospitals in Lethbridge and Medicine Hat.
