The future of brain health care in the southern interior is closer to home than you think. Tom Budd, the former Calgary investment banker and prolific local philanthropist, has committed $1 million, his largest single donation ever, to the KGH (Kelowna General Hospital) Foundation. The gift establishes the Payton & Dillon Budd Brain Health Medical Fund, an endowment specifically dedicated to advancing brain health care at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH).
“It is time to take action”, says Tom Budd.
The endowment is the culmination of Budd’s long-held desire to honour his sons, Payton and Dillon Budd, meaningfully and positively. Sadly, both young men grappled with mental health challenges. Dillon, just 13 years old, made the tragic decision to end his life in 2015. Two years later, his brother Payton made the same heartbreaking decision.
Budd shares why he has made the transformational donation. “I am trying to live a life that my sons would be proud of,” he says.
“My boys were deeply loved. This gift, and every philanthropic commitment I have made or will ever make, is an expression of my enduring love for them, and the compassion I feel for all others who have lost a child or loved one to mental health challenges or neurological brain disorder.”
The decision to direct the fund specifically toward brain health care at the clinical level was motivated further by Tom’s mother’s experience with Parkinson’s disease and dementia.
“Brain health encompasses all of the areas of well-being the brain is responsible for, physical and mental,” explains KGH neurologist, Dr. Daryl Wile. “Neurologists and specialists in this discipline focus on cognitive, sensory, social-emotional, behavioral, and motor domains of brain functioning. While it is frequently discussed independently, mental health is a component of brain health."
“It is an area of health care that is vitally important,” says Allison Young, CEO of the KGH Foundation. “Mental illness and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, ALS, Alzheimer’s and dementia are devastating to those who are suffering, and their families.”
“KGH is now home to some very bright and ambitious neurologists,” adds Young. “The Payton & Dillon Budd Brain Health Medical Fund will provide awards and grants enabling them to engage in projects and studies that aim to provide a greater understanding of how the brain works to advance the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disorders of the brain. It is exciting. The endowment means that this work can take place right here at Kelowna General Hospital and in the community.”
“We are incredibly grateful for Tom’s leadership,” adds Dr. Aleksander Tkach, Neurologist and Director of IH Stroke Services. “We have an opportunity to establish KGH as a hub for world-class research, innovation and most critically, a leader in the delivery of brain health care, close to home, for those who live in the southern interior of B.C.”
Reflecting on the far-reaching impact the endowment in his sons names will have, Tom says, “This gift is an investment in the future of brain health care. While there are certainly immediate needs for brain health care resources, I expect this fund to activate upstream solutions and innovation by enabling the physicians and clinicians who can really make an impact in the field,” adds Tom.
His final words are heartfelt and reflective of the sentiment underpinning Tom’s philanthropic activity. “Without hope, there is no path forward. My hope is that this gift will inspire others to act as well, and that by working together, we can make a real difference in this community when it comes to brain health care.”
The KGH Foundations $40 million ‘Closer to home than you think’ campaign launched in the spring of 2023. The campaign includes a $5 million commitment to establish a Centre of Excellence for Brain Health – a hub for training, research, innovation, and leadership development in the clinical neurosciences at Kelowna General Hospital.