Health Sciences Centre - Hero

Giving back

Investing in long-term health solutions

Jan 7, 2021

As the first wave of COVID-19 hit Winnipeg, Manitoba, and the rest of Canada, it was clear that personal protective equipment (PPE) would be in high demand. For frontline workers, access to PPE is essential to stay safe. While working as a trauma surgeon in Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre, Dr. Christian Petropolis designed a silicone N95-like mask to help protect his fellow frontline healthcare professionals as they battle the global pandemic.

Thanks to a $100,000 grant from the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation to the Health Sciences Centre Foundation, Dr. Petropolis produced the first reusable mask that can be taken off and easily cleaned repeatedly by healthcare workers right on the ward, helping to alleviate a potentially dire shortage of PPE.

The first reusable mask that can be taken off and easily cleaned repeatedly by healthcare workers right on the ward

“I am grateful that the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation had the insight to support the unconventional with this mask,” says Dr. Petropolis. “With their donation, they helped with the implementation of a unique solution at a time of great need. Research and development in the area of medical devices are not well funded in Canada, and it is great to have a group that supports bold ideas, innovators, and our future.”

“During this unprecedented public health emergency, we are especially focused on supporting our communities and enabling urgent funding where it is needed most,” says Shanan Spencer-Brown, TELUS Friendly Future Foundation Executive Director. “Supporting research and development is one of the ways we are helping organizations across Canada in the fight against COVID-19.”

" ... it is great to have a group that supports bold ideas, innovators, and our future.”

Now, thanks to these Winnipeg doctors’ ingenuity and the generous support of the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation, Canada's frontline workers have masks that can last them for years, not just days, enabling them to remain safer as they support their communities.