A Year of Heart and Momentum
As 2025 comes to an end, we’re reflecting on a year shaped by generosity, collaboration, and a shared commitment to strengthening healthcare close to home. With the support of donors, partners, service clubs, and volunteers, Chalmers Foundation continues to invest in care that honours the whole person—mind, body, and spirit.
This year marked a meaningful evolution in how we show up for our community and how we support patients and families across Fredericton and the Upper River Valley.
A New Chapter in Community Care: Chalmers Foundation Care & Support Centre
One of the most impactful milestones of 2025 was the opening of the Care & Support Centre. Built in partnership with Horizon Health Network’s care teams and shaped by the voices of patients, families, and social workers, the Centre reflects what true support feels like during some of life’s hardest moments.
It has quickly become a place where people with lived cancer experience and their support persons find connection, tools to navigate change, and programs that build resilience. From peer support to therapeutic programming, the Centre is helping ease the emotional weight that comes with illness and uncertainty.
Chalmers Foundation Care & Support Centre represents a new chapter in how healthcare support is delivered—one rooted in compassion, community, and whole-person wellbeing.
A Major Step Forward in Specialized Care: Introducing the Hybrid Operating Room
This year, Chalmers Foundation proudly announced plans for the new hybrid operating room at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital (DECRH). Developed in collaboration with Horizon Health Network and the Government of New Brunswick, this modern surgical suite blends advanced imaging with traditional operating capabilities, enabling faster, safer, and more precise care.
The Hybrid OR will strengthen our region in powerful ways:
Bringing advanced image-guided surgery closer to home
We’re expanding access to complex vascular, trauma, orthopedic, and cancer surgeries right here in New Brunswick—so patients can receive world-class care without leaving their community.
Cutting surgical wait times for urgent and high-risk cases
As new capacity comes online, wait times are projected to drop significantly. This means life-changing procedures can happen sooner, when they matter most.
Increasing minimally invasive options for better recovery
More patients will benefit from less invasive procedures that support shorter hospital stays, fewer complications, and stronger long-term outcomes.
Advancing healthcare equity for rural communities
These improvements ensure people across western and central New Brunswick have the same access to timely, high-quality care—no matter where they live.
In 2025, we also welcomed Dr. Claus Schaus as Campaign Chair. His leadership and experience will help guide a major fundraising effort in 2026, as we continue moving this transformative project forward.
Programs That Build Confidence, Belonging, and Independence
Chalmers Foundation’s partnership with Stan Cassidy Centre for Rehabilitation (SCCR)
Programs like Adapted Swim, Game Changers, Bikes N’ Trikes, as well as the Kiwanis House that provides an accessible place for families to stay, provide more than activity—they offer belonging, skill-building, and moments of joy that strengthen confidence and independence.
- 19 bikes were purchased for the Bikes N’ Trikes program
- 38 clients benefited from the Adapted Swim program
- $6,700 was used for the Kids Being Kids program
- Kiwanis House upgrades are complete with just a few minor additions to be added
Radiothon 2025: Two Days of Heart
Radiothon 2025 marked a milestone as our first-ever two-day event. Hosted at Regent Mall with live coverage from Stingray radio stations HOT 93.1 and New Country 92.3, Radiothon brought together donors, musicians, volunteers, and families whose lived experiences put the meaning of community front and centre.
Funds raised support the Cancer Support Program—a program that offers guidance, comfort, and resources to people facing diagnosis, treatment, and recovery.
With the D.J. Wilson Family Foundation matching donations up to $100,000, the event doubled its impact and helped strengthen a program that will support thousands in the years ahead. The total amont raised for the Cancer Support Program was $318,000.
Radiothon continues to show what happens when people come together for care.
Community at the Heart: Service & Community Partnerships
We are grateful for the service clubs whose decades-long support continues to strengthen healthcare across our region. In 2025, our regional service clubs have donated a total of $67,528.55.
Thank you:
- Epsilon Y Service Club
- Nashwaaksis Y Service Club
- Kinsmen Community Center (Nashwaaksis) Inc.
- Fredericton Lions Club
- Nashwaaksis Lions Club
- Kinsmen Club of the Miramichi
- Burtts Corner Lions Club
- Fredericton Motorcycle Club
- Geary Lions Club
- Moncton Rotary Club
- Kiwanis Club of Fredericton
These partnerships help us expand our reach and deepen our impact—proving that when community comes together, meaningful change follows.
A Modern Look for a Modern Mission: Our Brand Refresh
In fall 2025, we introduced a refreshed brand identity—one that reflects who we are today and where we’re heading as a foundation rooted in whole-person care.
The updated look brings forward three core ideas that shape Chalmers Foundation.
Care beyond medicine. Hope beyond limits
Our new colours, photography style, and visual language highlight real people and real stories. The goal was to realign our brand with our community and while reflecting warmth, trust, and community connection.
A focus on whole-person wellbeing
Our messaging now places stronger emphasis on supporting every dimension of health. This aligns with our core fundraising of the Stan Cassidy Centre for Rehabilitation, our new cancer support initiatives, and our broader mission to make care feel more human, accessible, and connected.
A clearer, more confident voice in the community
From refreshed social posts to donor communications, our brand now speaks with clarity and heart. The visual refresh helps donors like you understand where your generosity goes and why your role matters so deeply.
Our brand refresh wasn’t just a design update—it was a strategic step forward, helping us show up as the modern, community-rooted foundation we have always been.
Looking Ahead
As we close out 2025, Chalmers Foundation’s team feels immense gratitude for the donors, partners, care teams, volunteers, and supporters who make it possible to build stronger care close to home.
In 2026, Chalmers Foundation will continue advancing projects rooted in whole-person care and investing in innovations that improve lives here in our community.
Here’s to a meaningful year behind us—and a brighter one we’re building together.