Donation of $800,000 to Northumberland Hills Hospital

A long-time Port Hope resident left $800,00 to the local hospital yesterday.
Gerald Hamilton made the decision only days before he died of cancer at 78. It will be used to buy an MRI machine, a major improvement in equipment for Northumberland County. Until now, patients needing this scan were forced to go to Toronto, Peterborough, Oshawa or Kingston.
One of the reasons for such a large donation was changes to the captial gains taxation rules made recently. The gift came in the form of stock.
Hamilton was born in Markham on a small family farm. He left the farm to work at Simpson's, a large retail chain in Canada, as a buyer. Just before he retired, he worked for The Bay, another major retailer who bought out Simpson's. He took early retirement and opened an antique shop and built up an impressive stock portfolio.
Two things of note.
First, it is amazing to see this type of generosity in our community. Second, it is great to see people taking advantage of this capital gains reform. Sadly, the lack of proper government funding leaves public institutions scrambling for money. This donation helps, but it should not replace appropriate levels of public funds.