$27M donation leaves CancerCare Manitoba Foundation CEO 'unspeakably humbled'

A massive donation of $27 million, made to CancerCare Manitoba Foundation by a private charity, "will forever change the future of cancer care in this province," foundation president Patti Smith says.

The money from the Paul Albrechtsen Foundation is the single largest gift to a health-care organization in the province's history, Smith said at the announcement Wednesday morning.

Smith said she's "almost unspeakably humbled and overwhelmed by the magnitude of this generosity, and more so, all that is going to be possible because of it."

Albrechtsen, who died in July 2019, was a Manitoba transportation industry entrepreneur who had previously given nearly $30 million to various organizations, mostly in the health-care field.

He donated $13.4 million to the Health Sciences Centre Foundation and $7 million to the St. Boniface Hospital Foundation, as well as $8 million to the Reh-Fit Centre. He also gave $1.5 million to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Smith said she first received a phone call around a year ago from the Albrechtsen Foundation about the $27-million gift. That was the first of many conversations in a journey that led to Wednesday's announcement, she said.

"Paul's vision and passion for the work of CancerCare extended across many platforms, events and initiatives undertaken by the [CancerCare] foundation, and now it seemed like the time had come to consider something a bit more significant," Smith said.

"It's really kind of hard to find the right words to say even the physical reaction that happens when you're having a conversation with somebody that's telling you that you're going to receive this amount of money. But I will tell you that I doubt in my lifetime there'll ever be another day like it."

The largest share of the donation, $17 million, will go toward the rebuild of the two-decade-old research lab facilities on the fifth, sixth and seventh floors of the CancerCare Manitoba Research Institute, which is being renamed the Paul Albrechtsen Research Institute.

Another $4 million is for a suite of single-cell technology machines that allow for different analysis of how cells are reacting and interacting with each other in a tumour. In the future, this type of data will allow doctors to personalize treatment to each individual's cancer and circumstances, a news release from CancerCare Manitoba said.

The equipment, unique in Canada, is already in use because of the money, Smith said.

An additional $2.5 million is for genomic sequencing, which makes it possible to develop and select personalized treatments that target the unique biology of a patient's disease.

The remaining $3.5 million will be used to build the Paul Albrechtsen Centre for Hope at the Western Manitoba Cancer Centre in Brandon. That project was announced in late March.

"This monumental gift will change the course of cancer research in our province for decades," Smith said.

Albrechtsen immigrated from Denmark in 1954 with $50 to his name and settled in Virden, Man., where he established Paul's Hauling Ltd., a one-truck transportation operation that hauled salt water and oil for the petroleum industry.

The business grew over the years and today has branches in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

"My dad was just an ordinary guy who did extraordinary things. He was a trucker, a pilot, an entrepreneur and a businessperson and, later in life, a philanthropist," said Scott Albrechtsen, president of the foundation bearing his dad's name.

"After achieving business success, during the last 30 years of his life, he turned to health care as a passion and treated it with the same energy, curiosity and visionary perspective."

He was deeply intrigued by medical research and wanted Manitobans to have access to the most recent progress in patient care, Scott said.

"Without a doubt, he would have been delighted to be here today, participating in the detailed planning that has brought us to this point and looking forward to a promising future of CancerCare Manitoba," Scott said.