The Niagara Health Foundation is honoured to announce that Barbara Cornelius (St. Catharines) and family have made a $1,000,000 donation supporting the installation of a 3rd MRI at Niagara Health. The new MRI will be located at the St. Catharines site of Niagara Health. The 3rd MRI will help reduce the wait time for Niagara residents, which is currently 27% longer than the Provincial average.

Barbara is making this gift in honour of her husband, Kerry Cornelius, who passed away in 2017. “This significant gift helps us tremendously to reach our goal of $2,770,000 million for the new MRI installation campaign, and we are very grateful”, says Tom Rankin. Tom has led the community campaign by writing an open letter to all Niagara residents. Barbara’s husband, Kerry, founded Cornelius Pools in St. Catharines in 1967 and employed many residents of Niagara as he grew the business. Kerry was an accomplished athlete, musician, race car driver and aerobatic competitor in his bi-wing plane. Barbara shared that “Kerry cared deeply for the people and institutions of Niagara that make this a wonderful community,” says Barbara. “This donation continues the legacy of community contributions Kerry made during his lifetime.”

In honour of this generous gift, Niagara Health will be dedicating the naming of the 4th floor Outpatient Clinics at the St. Catharines Site as the “Kerry Cornelius Outpatient Clinics.” “We are very pleased to receive this generous gift that will make a real difference to the level of care that Niagara patients will receive once the new MRI is installed,” commented Andrea Scott, Interim President & CEO, Niagara Health Foundation.

President of Niagara Health, Lynn Guerriero, expressed her gratitude for the generous gift, “Barbara’s wonderful gift is an inspiration to Niagara Health, particularly as everyone involved has risen to the challenges presented by the pandemic.”

The Niagara Health Foundation, along with Mr. Tom Rankin, continues to fundraise for the campaign. For more information, the website www.mriniagara.com has been created, and online donations of all sizes are welcome.

About Niagara Health Foundation

Niagara Health Foundation raises funds to support Niagara Health for the advancement of healthcare in Niagara. Niagara Health Foundation raises funds for priority equipment needs, redevelopment projects and patient programs at Niagara Health’s five sites, located in Welland, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Port Colborne, and Fort Erie.