Spotlight: Rick and Janet Lint
"Be Part of the Change"
Rick Lint has been interested in healthcare for many years. A successful investment banker, he was
recruited by the Ontario government to work on a health system study in the early 1990s. The study accurately forecasted today’s aging population and over-stretched health system and recommended
more investment in healthcare infrastructure. “For many years, it was just ignored,” he says. “Now there’s a lot of catch-up going on.” Rick and his late wife Janet are helping West Park “catch up” by making a $1.25 million gift to the Get Your Life Back Campaign.
Rick served on the board of Sick Kids before joining the West Park Healthcare Foundation board in 2009.
He was immediately impressed by the work West Park does, calling it “nothing short of miraculous” in many cases. “If you can get a person from injured or sick to full functioning and independence, that’s a gigantic step forward for the person and for society.”
But Rick soon realized that the hospital was overdue for redevelopment.
“The entire facility was past its best-before date,” he says. “And as the population ages, the wonderful
services provided by West Park are going to be an increasing need.” He calls the plans for the new hospital “astonishingly wonderful,” providing more effective and efficient care to people whose lives have been changed by illness, accident, or disability. “Janet and I wanted to be part of the change.”
Sadly, Janet passed away in July, after struggling for years with Pompe disease, a rare genetic condition that causes respiratory issues. She and Rick were married for more than half a century, and he describes her simply as “a very special person.”
Although Janet’s main treatment centre was elsewhere, Rick is grateful to West Park, and especially to Dr. Roger Goldstein, for helping with sleep problems during her illness. He also appreciates the care his mother, who suffered from dementia, received as a resident of the long-term care home at West Park until her death at the age of 96. “She was treated very kindly and lovingly by the whole team,” he says.
In honour of the Lints’ generosity, their gift will be recognized through naming of the Respiratory
Complex Continuing Care Service, the Respiratory Rehabilitation Services, and the Shared Therapy Inpatient Gym in the new hospital building.
“West Park is a wonderful team,” says Rick. “They’re taking on a big challenge and making great progress. The site is terrific, and the new facility will support outstanding care in all dimensions while also helping to serve the community in positive ways. The future is very bright for the West Park family.”
Rick knows Janet will be pleased to see their gift to West Park come to fruition. “When she passed, a friend said, ‘The angels will be making room for her in heaven.’ She will be smiling down from there now.”
