Toronto lawyer and former Sunnybrook patient donates $10 million after OCD treatment gave him a ‘life reset’

Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital is seen on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013. (Aaron Vincent Elkaim / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

A Toronto lawyer and private equity investor has donated $10 million to expand obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) research and treatment at Sunnybrook hospital after receiving care there himself.

It was 2019 when Brian Reeve spent four months in the Toronto hospital’s Frederick W. Thompson Anxiety Disorders Centre OCD program, which he said gave him a “life reset.”

“I will always be grateful for the treatment I received,” Reeve said in a news release announcing his donation.

Established in 2012 following a $10-million donation from the centre’s late namesake, Sunnybrook says its facility is the only one in Canada that specializes in treating OCD, which it says affects an estimated 400,000 Canadians.

Since then, the centre has treated nearly 400 patients through its “intensive” live-in and day program, which Sunnybrook says is the first and only one of its kind in Canada.

The hospital said Reeve’s donation will accelerate the expansion and relocation of the Thompson Centre’s 24/7 OCD treatment unit from a local community setting to a permanent home at Sunnybrook’s Bayview campus, which will be known as the Reeve OCD Centre.

“The Reeve OCD Centre will advance Sunnybrook’s leadership in specialized OCD care, drive innovative treatments, and transform care for OCD patients and their families when it matters most,” Andy Smith, president and CEO of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, said in a statement.

Sunnybrook defines OCD as a mental illness consisting of two components: obsessions and compulsions.

Obsessions are the cognitive component, and typically present as repetitive and intrusive thoughts, images or impulses. Those thoughts then trigger an anxiety response through behaviours or compulsions to try and get rid of the anxiety.

“For someone with severe OCD, compulsions can take up a considerable amount of time, having a significant impact on their ability to manage their daily lives,” according to the hospital.

Reeve said his donation is an expression of his gratitude to Sunnybrook, but also an investment in OCD treatment that he hopes will pay “large dividends in the future.”

“My intent is to carry forward Frederick Thompson’s vision — and hopefully inspire others to support this work for generations to come,” he said.