DARTMOUTH: The Dartmouth General Hospital Foundation is honoured to announce a transformational $5 million gift from Lisa O’Regan, the largest contribution in the hospital’s history.
Made in honour of her late husband, Sean O’Regan, celebrated community champion and CEO of O’Regan’s Automotive Group, this extraordinary gift will have a direct and immediate impact on patients, families, and frontline healthcare teams across the region.
This investment will support urgent patient-care priorities, including the purchase of a new CT scanner for Dartmouth General Hospital, improved capacity and experience within the Emergency Department, and the DGH Social Work Patients Essential Fund, which provides critical support to vulnerable patients who need help with food, medication, transportation, clothing and other necessities.
“Thousands of people are waiting for CT scans in Nova Scotia’s Central Zone,” said Dr. Carla Pittman, DGH Radiologist and DGH Foundation Board Member. “This gift will help DGH bring the first photon-counting CT scanner to Atlantic Canada.
“This new state-of-the-art technology allows for better resolution and less radiation exposure to patients, while reducing wait times and ensuring faster diagnosis and treatment. It is hard to overstate what this will mean for care for Nova Scotians.”
ADVERTISEMENT:
Dartmouth General Hospital saw more than 50,000 Emergency Department visits last year and regularly operates over capacity.
While planning continues for a future Emergency Department redevelopment, this gift will help improve patient flow, comfort and care delivery in the near term, supporting the hundreds of thousands of patients who will rely on the Emergency Department before a new facility is built.
“This gift reflects both vision and compassion,” said Stephen Harding, CEO of the Dartmouth General Hospital Foundation.
“By honouring Sean’s legacy in this way, Lisa is strengthening care across the hospital—from faster diagnostics to more supportive emergency and social care services—ensuring patients are treated with dignity and urgency when they need it most.”
Sean O’Regan was widely known as a generous leader and committed community builder who believed deeply in giving back.
In recognition of the O’Regan family’s philanthropy, Dartmouth General Hospital’s West Wing will be named the Sean O’Regan Wing.
ADVERTISEMENT:
This marks the family’s second major gift to the hospital. In 2018, the O’Regans contributed $2 million in honour of longtime friend and mentor Neville Gilfoy, resulting in the naming of the Neville J. Gilfoy Wing.
Together, these gifts reflect a lasting commitment to Dartmouth General Hospital and to the patients and families it serves—ensuring care that is timely, compassionate, and grounded in community.
Additional Quotes
“Sean believed in community, in showing up for others, and in building systems that last beyond us. Dartmouth General supported him, and our family, with remarkable care. This gift is in honour of the man he was, and in recognition of how important it is that Nova Scotians have access to timely, high-quality healthcare close to home. Knowing the talent of the committed team at Dartmouth General, my hope is that this investment will ease the burden on our emergency department, increase diagnostic capacity, and make care better for every family who comes through their doors.”
- Lisa O’Regan
“We are deeply grateful to Lisa and the O’Regan family for their longstanding support. Their generosity strengthens care today and into the future and will make a meaningful difference in the lives of countless patients and families.”
- Eileen MacGibbon, VP Operations, Central Zone, Nova Scotia Health
