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70 Years of Care Inspires Legacy Gift to Expand Endoscopy Care

Balfour LeGresley’s children have fulfilled their father’s wish—to pay tribute to their mother, Dr. Hildegarde Vierkoetter, one of a few female physicians in her class of 1948 who practiced medicine at St. Joe’s before establishing her own practice on Bloor Street West.

“St. Joe’s has been our family’s community hospital since my grandparents moved to Swansea in the early 1930s. They lived in the west end, and St. Joe’s was their go-to hospital, where my siblings and I were also born.” David LeGresley, son of Balfour and Hildegarde shared.

The family today, after 70 years, still relies on St. Joe’s for care with two great-grandchildren of Balfour and Dr. Hildegarde using the CIBC Just for Kids Clinic. “After generations of care at St. Joe’s, my father made it clear in his Will that he wanted to donate $1 million to St. Joe’s, honouring his late wife,” says David.

“As a family, we decided to put his gift to work right away to meet a critical need and help a large number of people.”

As a result, St. Joe’s has been able to expand and improve its over-capacity endoscopy clinic by adding a much-needed third room to increase screenings and endoscopic procedures. Before the new room opened, the team was doing about 7,700 endoscopic procedures each year in two small spaces. This donation increases our capacity by approximately 50%, to accommodate 11,000 tests and procedures annually, primarily for people being screened for colon cancer.

David says his father would be happy that his wishes have been honoured. “My mother, as a physician, would also be proud he supported an important need in a hospital that has always been near and dear to our family.”

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