BC businessman Jim Pattison donates $50M to the Children's Hospital Foundation of Saskatchewan

Two months after donating $75 million to the St. Paul’s Foundation in Vancouver, Jim Pattison is at it again.

This time the B.C. businessman has donated $50 million to the Children’s Hospital Foundation in Saskatchewan.

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It’s the largest one-time donation to a charitable organization in Saskatchewan history.

In honour of Pattison’s generosity, the new provincial hospital will be named the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital.

The foundation is also changing its name to the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation, effective immediately.

“Jim Pattison’s remarkable gift will transform the future of maternal and pediatric health care on a scale this province has not seen before,” said Brynn Boback-Lane, President and CEO of Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation. “We are tremendously grateful for this visionary gift, which will help us achieve long-term, stable funding to help create a world-class medical and research centre of excellence for Saskatchewan children, moms, and families right here at home.

The massive donation includes ongoing, sustainable funding for the new provincial children’s hospital.

That includes pediatric and maternal-newborn equipment and fellowships, pediatric endowment research funds, in-kind advertising and an endowment for the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation.

Pattison, who’s originally from Luseland, Saskatchewan, talked about how special the province is and how important it is to give when he spoke about the donation on Tuesday.

“Our objective is to take what we do and help others,” said the billionaire. “Giving is a very important part of our lives, it doesn’t have to be money, it can be time. Show me the fabric of volunteers and I’ll show you a successful town, city of province.”

Most of the donation will provide a steady stream of revenue to help meet research and programming needs when the new provincial hospital opens in late 2019.

Premier Brad Wall spoke on Tuesday as well, thanking Pattison and talking about the impressive facility that will come to Saskatchewan in a little more than two years.

““We want to express our deepest gratitude and appreciation for this extraordinary gift that will benefit the children and families of Saskatchewan for generations to come,” said Wall. “Mr. Pattison’s generous donation, together with the $235.5 million contribution from the province, and the impressive fundraising of the Children’s Hospital Foundation of Saskatchewan, will ensure that a world class children’s hospital will finally become a reality in Saskatchewan.”

Pattison net worth is $5.6 billion.