December 2009 A Message from our President & CEO Dear Friend, Welcome to the fall 2009 issue of new thinking times, a newsletter for friends and supporters of Women's College Hospital. Women's College Hospital Foundation is pleased to present this quarterly e-newsletter to provide you with the latest in exciting news and developments at Women's College. In this issue, we celebrate the success of The Longest Lunch and our first year of participation in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. The celebrations continue with the 2009 Celebrate a Star campaign and the excellent response to our first HEALTHY YOU seminar! And, we tell you about the fundraising efforts of a very special marathoner. We invite you to view our new publications and introduce our new series of Special Occasion Donation Materials. We provide links to important news items featuring medical experts from Women’s College, and share some excellent health resources. Finally, we invite you to share your stories about your experiences with Women’s College. Thank you for your continued interest. We hope you enjoy new thinking times, and look forward to sharing more news with you in the coming months. Best regards, PS Your feedback is welcome! Please send comments about new thinking times to foundation@wchospital.ca. Over 1,000 Participate to Make The Longest Lunch a Great Success! On Wednesday September 16, over 1,000 participants – Women’s College staff, physicians, volunteers, neighbours and members of the community – came out in droves to join in the fun at the inaugural Longest Lunch. With tables placed end-to-end along Grosvenor Street from Bay Street to Surrey Place, the crowd enjoyed a fabulous barbecue feast while helping to raise funds for the Breast Centre at Women’s College. Click here to read more about The Longest Lunch. Women’s College at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon: A Great Partnership is Born! 2009 marked WCHF's inaugural year as an Official Charity at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, where Marathon participants could raise funds for the Hospital by asking family, friends and colleagues for support. Response was excellent! Read more Stars are Shining at Women’s College! Family members, friends, co-workers – any one of them might be a “star” in your life. Perhaps someone at Women’s College has made a difference in your life too. The 2009 Celebrate a Star Campaign is a great way to give a gift that pays tribute to that special person this holiday season, while at the same time supporting a great cause. You can make a difference this year and Celebrate a Star in support of Women’s College. Visit the 2009 Celebrate a Star web site, or watch for our special e-communication later this month. WCHF Launches HEALTHY YOU Seminars to Outstanding Response! On Tuesday October 20th, WCHF presented “Pain, Pain Go Away”, the inaugural event in our new HEALTHY YOU series of public information seminars, sponsored by Homemakers magazine. Over 75 guests joined us at The Elmwood Club to hear Dr. Christine Lay, Director of the Centre for Headache at Women’s College Hospital, focus on an affliction that debilitates thousands of Canadian women: headaches. Dr. Lay answered questions from the audience at our sold-out event, and discussed what doctors now know about this leading cause of disability, including headache relief and prevention. Read more about this and upcoming HEALTHY YOU seminars. Melanie Anderson Goes the Extra Mile to Support Women’s College It’s actually over 4,600 extra miles…and then 26 more! WCHF thanks Melanie for her fundraising efforts as part of her participation in the 2009 Honolulu Marathon. Click here to read about Melanie’s innovative fundraising initiative. New Publications Available Online Hot off the presses – the fall 2009 issues of WCHF’s Heart & Soul and future newsletters are now available online. Visit our Publications page to download both documents. WCHF Introduces New Special Occasion Donation Materials In response to inquiries from several supporters interested in using a special occasion – a wedding, a birth or birthday, an anniversary or retirement – to raise funds for Women’s College, WCHF is pleased to introduce our series of Special Occasion Donation Materials. Scrolls and invitation inserts can be personalized for your special occasion, to help encourage guests to make a donation in lieu of gifts. Read more. Top Five Health Concerns Facing Women Watch the recent Global TV interview with Dr. Kymm Feldman, family physician and Dr. Shari Kirsh, psychiatrist at Women’s College Hospital. Breakthrough: Helping HIV-positive Patients have Babies Dr. Mona Loufty, head of WCH’s Women and HIV Research Program, is creating Canada’s first set of national guidelines on pregnancy planning for those living with HIV. Read the Globe & Mail article. Osteoporosis Defense Begins in Teenage Years Click here to read thestar.com’s interview with WCH’s Dr. Sophie Jamal, about the importance of preventing bone loss at a young age. Womenshealthmatters.ca Women’s College Hospital’s Women’s Health Matters website offers consumers the latest information, news and research findings on women’s health, diseases and lifestyle trends. Offering such useful features as virtual health centres to learn about a variety of medical conditions; a “Health A-Z” section with short articles on women’s health topics and detailed descriptions of relevant resources; along with discussion groups and the popular monthly e-bulletin, womenshealthmatters.ca has become the Canadian source for reliable, evidence-based and current information on women’s health and lifestyle issues. Click here to visit womenshealthmatters.ca. Do You Have a Story to Share? Do you have a story that you would like to share about an experience you’ve had at Women’s College? If so, we would love to hear from you! Visit the Your Stories section of our web site to read some of the stories submitted by others, and find out how to share your own.