More hospitals in Ontario are going to be benefitting from the Split the Pot 50/50 lottery.
Thursday marked the launch of the third installment of the hospital lottery which will have a minimum $500,000 grand prize. The official launch was held at the Grand River Hospital in Kitchener.
This time around, the proceeds from the Split the Pot lottery will be shared among 58 Ontario hospital foundations. The money will used to purchase much-needed hospital equipment that is not covered through government funding.
“Those ultrasounds that you get by the bedside? They are $15,000 to $20,000 each,” said Paul McIntyre Royston, president and CEO of the Grand River Hospital Foundation.
“We recently did an MRI here. And even the base cost for that is $2.5 million just for the machine. Especially for smaller hospitals, that’s hard to fundraise for.”
The grand prize will be shared among 13 people with one winner receiving 60 percent of the payout. There will be two people splitting 20 percent of the payout, and 10 more will share in the remaining 20 percent.
In addition, there is an early bird jackpot of $100,000 that will be shared among 21 winners.
Two women from Guelph were among the 13 winners who shared in the jackpot of $1,077,915 in the last draw back in March.
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“We raised one million in the first one, two million in the second,” said McIntyre Royston. “Maybe it doubles every time? The math gets really interesting when we start to do that. The sky’s the limit.”
The Split the Pot 50/50 Lottery started in the fall of 2023 with 21 participating hospitals. 30 more hospital partners came on board in February.
The Foundation of Guelph General Hospital is one of the charter members in the Split the Pot lottery. They have received over $36,000 from Split the Pot in addition to proceeds from their own 50/50 lottery.
The foundation’s senior manager, community engagement and communications, Elizabeth Stewart, said funds specifically raised from Split the Pot were used to purchase a blood film stainer for the hospital’s blood lab.
“What’s great about Split the Pot is that it is a win-win-win,” McIntrye Royston said. “People have a great opportunity to win a whole bunch of money. As well, the hospital gets money for equipment and research.
Tickets can be purchased on the Split the Pot website until June 20. People have until May 16 to get in on the early bird draws.
— with files from Global News’ Mike Hodges
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