Teresa Latchford

Southlake Regional Health Centre Foundation has one million reasons to smile.

A $1-million gift from the Preston Group, a longtime family business specializing in high-rise residential ownership and housing and land development, pushed the foundation past $40 million in its Count On Me campaign to raise $60 million for the centre.

“We were really impressed with the vision to build a first-class institution in the northern part of the region,” shareholder and family member Felicia Salomon said  of the reason for the donation. “We have seen Newmarket grow over the years and have felt there is a real need for this facility.”

It is difficult enough to endure treatment for those women diagnosed with cancer, but to have to travel on top of everything else makes it more unbearable, she added.

Coming from a family of four girls, all of whom are professionals and mothers, Ms Salomon knows every time a woman has a mammogram, it is bothersome anticipating results. But with a local cancer screening unit, women will have results more quickly.

When she met with foundation president Neila Poscente, she walked in the mud in high heels to see the construction of the new cancer centre. It reinforced her reason for the donation even further.

The unit will not only be used for routine breast cancer screening, it will offer advanced technology and services for women who must undergo further assessment, follow-up mammography, biopsies and ultrasounds.

Having all of the equipment and services under one roof ensures patients will receive a diagnosis and treatment plan within two weeks of her referral.

“We have all new digital mammography equipment, which makes the process a lot faster,” said Ms Poscente. “It has allowed us to reduce wait times for the screening.”

The unit is up and running in the medical arts building and has been named the Preston Group Mammography Unit, after the family donors.

“It’s such a boost to have a gift like this,” she added. “This is just so important to the community.”

She hopes this will inspire the community as much as it has inspired the foundation.

Did you know?

• Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian women.
• In 2008, about 22,400 Canadian women will be diagnosed with and 5,300 will die from it.
• About 170 men will be diagnosed and 50 will die of breast cancer.
• On average, 431 Canadian women are diagnosed each week.
• On average, 102 Canadian women will die of breast cancer each week.
• One in nine women is expected to develop breast cancer during her lifetime.
• Breast cancer death rates have declined in all age groups since the mid-1990s.

­— Canadian Cancer Society