'We want to make a difference': Family donates $1M to Dartmouth hospital for cutting-edge kidney research technology

The Dartmouth General Hospital received a generous donation on Tuesday, aimed at advancing kidney health research by using new technology – the first-of-its-kind for North America.

Robert and Nancy Van Wart donated $1 million to help the hospital purchase new virtual reality technology, which is used to monitor and assess the cognitive effects of dialysis on patients.

“This will be using virtual reality technology, a headset, to really understand the impact of dialysis on the brain,” said Stephen Harding, president and CEO of the Dartmouth General Hospital Foundation.

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“Phase two is really the impact of the cardiac system; what impact does dialysis have on the cardiac system and again, how can we build interventions to help patients thrive while doing dialysis.”

Robert says he hopes his donation makes a difference to people who suffer from kidney disease.

“I see the impact dialysis has on Nancy and my thinking is, if there’s technology anywhere on this planet that can help her and other kidney disease patients, then let’s find it, let’s fund it, and see if we can make a difference,” he said.

“Not just to Nancy, but to our son, to perhaps our grandchildren, but other people who suffer from kidney disease.”

According to statistics, one-in-10 Canadians have kidney disease – totalling roughly four million people.

The leading cause of kidney failure is diabetes at 36 per cent, and more than 52,000 Canadians are being treated for kidney failure.

“Now, because kidney disease is such a major part of our family and it’s growing obviously with our son being diagnosed, we decided as a family, lets take all of that money, plus our own, and lets build up a million-dollar fund for the Dartmouth General Hospital. We want to make a difference for kidney research,” said Robert.

Dr. Karthik Tennankore, co-division head for nephrology at the Dartmouth General Hospital, says the money will be used to purchase two pieces of technology – which includes the headset – as well as infrastructure support.

“So, our research team can approach patients and bring them into the study so we can evaluate both of these devices in dialysis,” said Tennankore.

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