Wawanesa Insurance and Western Financial Group make joint gift to Operation Excellence
Evan Johnston, President & CEO, Wawanesa: “As a company that calls Manitoba home, we all know someone who has relied on HSC’s care, whether it be a family member, friend, or neighbour.” (left) Grant Ostir, CEO, Western Financial Group: “By supporting HSC’s investment in advanced surgical equipment, we’re helping improve patient care and overall well-being, ensuring people receive the best care.” (right)
The insurance industry can serve people best when communities are strong; and communities can only stay strong when the health care system is effective, innovative, and committed to the pursuit of excellence.
It is that understanding—along with a deep sense of gratitude for Health Sciences Centre—that drove a $100,000 joint gift from Wawanesa and Western Financial Group to the HSC Foundation’s Operation Excellence campaign in October.
“As a company that calls Manitoba home, we all know someone who has relied on HSC’s care, whether it be a family member, friend, or neighbour,” said Evan Johnston, President & CEO of Wawanesa. “We’re proud to continue our 129-year legacy of supporting Manitobans and our communities by partnering with our brokerage Western Financial Group to help ensure everyone in our province continues to benefit from leading health care.”
Wawanesa was founded back in 1896 in the same Western Manitoba town with which it proudly shares a name. In 2017, the company acquired Western Financial Group which operates the Western Communities Foundation as its charitable arm.
“At Western Financial Group and the Western Communities Foundation, we stand with Canadians in moments that matter. By supporting HSC’s investment in advanced surgical equipment, we’re helping improve patient care and overall well-being, ensuring people receive the best care,” says Grant Ostir, CEO of Western Financial Group. “We’re proud to support the HSC Foundation and the frontline teams who make excellence in care possible.”
With their gift, Wawanesa and Western Financial Group have joined the Operation Excellence Corporate Challenge, an initiative that has inspired 30 leading companies to date to step forward with major campaign gifts.
“Wawanesa and Western Financial Group have expressed great enthusiasm for our campaign and its impact on health care and on Manitobans,” says Jonathon Lyon, President & CEO of the Health Sciences Centre Foundation. “Both companies, with their long histories of service to the community, understand the importance of pursuing and sustaining excellence. To have them in our corner means the world to us.”
