West Park Foundation serves as the official fundraising vehicle of West Park Healthcare Centre. It's a restorative experience like no other. The end result?
When a life-changing injury or illness strikes, West Park Healthcare Centre helps patients reclaim their lives and realize their potential. In a park-like corner of Toronto's cityscape, we have created a nurturing campus of care where patients and their families are supported in responding to adversity and adapting to new circumstance. West Park Healthcare Centre Foundation has embarked on a Capit
al campaign, the largest fundraising effort in adult rehabilitation in Ontario. The Get Your Life Back Campaign will transform West Park’s 27-acre campus into a modern oasis of rehabilitative care, incorporating first-class architectural design and state-of-the-art technologies in its new Patient Care Centre. The campaign will also raise critical funds for programs, research and education. West Park will be Canada’s premier rehabilitation hospital. To fulfill our vision of providing exemplary care, West Park needs your help.
04/01/2026
It’s official! West Park Foundation has joined forces with UHN Foundation.
With West Park Healthcare Centre already part of University Health Network, today we're taking the final step forward - coming together as one UHNITED foundation.
This amalgamation will help our communities make an even bigger impact on rehabilitation research, education, and care at UHN.
West Park Foundation’s social media channels will be shutting down on April 8, 2026, so make sure you’re following UHN Foundation to stay connected! 💙
One tap of the video game controller and she’s off to the races.
Rachel Armstrong never expected a video game to change her life. Sitting in her wheelchair with controllers beneath her hands and a button by her head, she suddenly found herself racing through twists and turns and placing in the top three Mario Kart.
When she arrived at West Park, she kept to herself. Then someone asked if she liked video games. That simple question became the start of something bigger.
Adaptive gaming helped her step into community again. It helped her try new programs. It helped her feel like herself.
Thanks to donor support, patients at West Park like Rachel discover confidence through adaptive gaming, cooking classes, music therapy and more. These programs help people reconnect with joy, build community and find their way back to life ➜ https://bit.ly/4qEoMW9
12/23/2025
Happy holidays and a happy and healthy new year!
With your support, University Health Network’s West Park Healthcare Centre is improving lives, advancing rehabilitation science, and providing more care at home so patients can return to their full lives at home.
Thank you for your support this year.
12/22/2025
From a dream vacation to a fight for survival — and back on his new legs in just 6 weeks.
A simple step on coral during a beach trip to Jamaica changed everything for Del Taylor. Harmful ocean bacteria entered through tiny wounds in his feet. By the time he returned home to Ontario, the infection had spread so severely that doctors gave him the life-changing choice: amputate both legs or risk his life.
“I looked at my wife and my mother-in-law and said, ‘I ain’t dying. We’ll get rid of these things,'” says Del.
3 weeks after surgery, Del arrived at University Health Network’s West Park Healthcare Centre with one goal: walk out of here. His care team built a rehab program around his determination. With every therapy session and prosthetic fitting, his optimism inspired everyone around him.
On July 3, less than 2 months after surgery, Del stood on his new prosthetic legs. His first steps were filled with nervousness, but quickly turned into joy. By July 30, he walked out of West Park, ready to take on his next challenge: running again.
“I lost both legs, but gained a whole new perspective and appreciation for life,” says Del.
This is the power of rehabilitation — giving patients their lives back ➜ https://bit.ly/49839Xh
12/16/2025
A single rotation at University Health Network’s West Park Healthcare Centre during medical school changed his entire career. Two decades later Dr. Farooq Ismail is still helping patients reclaim their lives.
Today, he continues to advance stroke recovery and adult spasticity care alongside a dedicated interdisciplinary team. His commitment to giving back extends beyond his clinical work through outreach clinics and longstanding support for initiatives that help transform the West Park campus and strengthen rehabilitative care for patients across Ontario for decades to come.
“I’m here for most of my work week, it’s my second home, and the people I work with are truly like family. Why wouldn’t I give?” says Dr. Farooq.
As West Park looks ahead, champions like Dr. Ismail continue to play a vital role in helping more patients access the care, hope and support they deserve ➜ https://bit.ly/44vFNcA
08/01/2025
We were delighted to welcome former board member Katherine Jones back to West Park as we celebrated her generous gift to the Get Your Life Back Campaign by naming an inpatient room in her honour.
Katherine was a member of the Foundation Board of Directors from 2015 to 2022 and was the inaugural inaugural volunteer chair of our Tournament of Stars celebrity basketball event.
Thank you for your support and dedication to UHN’s West Park, Katherine.
08/01/2025
We were thrilled to celebrate with Ted & Joanne Verwaayen the unveiling of the inpatient room named in recognition of their generous gift to the Get Your Life Back campaign.
The Verwaayens made a gift in gratitude of the care their daughter, Kim, received at West Park in 2017 as an inpatient of the respiratory rehabilitation service.
Thank you, Ted & Joanne, your gift will make a difference for the next generations of patients at UHN’s West Park.
08/01/2025
Thank you to Foundation board member Nadia Vattovaz for her generous gift to the Get Your Life Back Campaign in support of our new hospital building.
We were delighted to celebrate with Nadia and the Vattovaz family as we named the 6th Floor Inpatient Terrace in honour of her parents, Izidoro and Rosina, in recognition of Nadia’s commitment to UHN’s West Park.
07/31/2025
The Culinary Showdown is more than an epic cooking competition in support of UHN’s West Park. It’s also a chance for top fundraisers to learn from some of Canada’s best chefs.
All Fundraising Foodies who raise over $2,500 will participate in the exclusive Celebrity Chef Cooking School on the day of the Culinary Showdown.
What you’ll get:
• 30-minute, small group and hands-on cooking demonstrations with each of the Celebrity Chefs, including Alvin Leung, Andrea Buckett, Antonio Park and Rafael Covarrubias, for 2.5 hours total of culinary education!
• A chef’s jacket and apron
• Samples of each of the Celeb Chef dishes and recipes to take home!
• Delicious breakfast and lunch buffets
…and if you’re in the top 50 Fundraisers, the chance to compete on stage with the Celebrity Chefs in the battle to crown the Culinary Showdown Champions!
Over 54% of Canadians play videogames, so it’s no surprise that we’ve got some gamers at UHN’s West Park!
Our Recreation Therapy and Occupational Therapy teams joined forces to create an innovative Adaptive Gaming Program.
Team members work one-on-one with patients, who may have limited or no use of their arms and hands, to develop a customized equipment set-up to allow them to participate.
07/10/2025
Bowling with the Rec Therapy team at UHN’s West Park was a striking success!
Patients, divided into two teams, could bowl independently, use a bowling ramp, or designate a staff member to bowl on their behalf.
Competition was fierce but friendly, with the High Rollers coming out on top!
Thank you to Dolphin Gaming for your support of our Recreation Therapy service, enabling great programs like this to happen.
07/03/2025
Take it from Brad Smith; the 2025 Culinary Showdown is not to be missed!
Get a chance to cook on stage with the celeb chefs and raise crucial funds for UHN’s West Park on November 1 in downtown Toronto!
Be the first to know and let us send you an email when West Park Healthcare Centre Foundation posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Contact The Organization
Send a message to West Park Healthcare Centre Foundation:
Acute care saves lives. West Park helps people get their lives back.
With deep expertise in rehabilitative medicine, West Park is an essential and dynamic partner in the healthcare system. We come in where acute care leaves off, providing specialized rehabilitation for patients with severe trauma, lung disease, amputation, diabetes, debilitating strokes, cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis. Since its inception in 1904, West Park has been helping patients faced with life-changing health challenges realize their potential and reclaim their lives at home and in the community.
West Park is now at a critical point in our history, as we transform our campus to meet the sharply rising demand for our services and the healthcare challenges of the future.
The new West Park will include a new, 730,000 square foot hospital with 20 per cent more beds, increased indoor and outdoor therapy space, and the ability to support the latest in technological advances. Construction on the new hospital will begin in the fall of 2018.
West Park Foundation has embarked on an ambitious $80 million capital campaign to support the campus development. Your support of the Get Your Life Back Campaign will help accelerate this bold transformation and set a new standard for future patient care, education and research.
