Destiny Hoang: Seeing community generosity firsthand

December is a busy month for Destiny Hoang, a donor experience officer at The Foundation of Guelph General Hospital. During this prime giving season, cheques and online donations come in from all over the community. Staff like Destiny are happy to come in to process gifts in a timely way.

Because for Destiny, this isn’t just a job. It’s also personal.

A few years ago, during her first year at university, Destiny started seeing double. It took a lot of tests to figure out what was wrong. Eventually, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS): an incurable autoimmune disease that affects one in 400 Canadians.

Destiny considers herself one of the lucky ones. She takes medications that manage her symptoms, and the disease doesn’t affect her day-to-day life. But she does need regular MRIs to monitor her condition.

Thanks to donors, she can get those scans in Guelph.

Nearly two decades ago, the community came together to fund the hospital’s first MRI machine. When that equipment started to show its age, donors stepped up again, allowing Guelph General Hospital to buy a new, more powerful machine in 2023.

As a result, Destiny’s says her scans take half the time they used to – something she certainly appreciates when she’s coming in for a midnight appointment. That speed also means the Hospital can perform more than a thousand additional MRIs each year, so patients get the imaging they need sooner.

But as the city keeps growing, so does the demand. That’s where Guelph General’s new community-based medical centre will be a game changer.

The centre – currently under construction on Conestoga College’s Speedvale Avenue campus – is slated to open its doors in early 2026. It will offer a suite of non-urgent diagnostic imaging, including CTs and MRIs, all fully managed and operated by Guelph General.

That extra capacity will mean fewer late-night appointments for Destiny and other patients. It will ensure more people can get breast imaging, ultrasounds, X-rays and other scans done close to home.

And it will also free up existing diagnostic equipment at the main hospital for urgent cases, along with more room in the parking lot for patients and visitors.

“I’m pretty excited” “And not just for myself but for everyone who will get to rely on these new services.”

This year, she can’t wait for December – because every donation brings us one step closer to equipping the new centre. “We want to make this happen for our community,” says Destiny. “And we want to make it happen as quickly as possible.”