2023 HRF Spring Home Lottery winners visit their $1.5M showhome

A new home and a cash prize — not a bad haul for a couple that won big in the 2023 Hospitals of Regina Foundation Spring Home Lottery.

On Wednesday, it was announced that Janice and Brian Burgess won the $1.5-million grand prize showhome in addition to winning $50,000 in cash courtesy of the foundation.

Janice is a longtime buyer of tickets and the two had previously won a TV, but this is the first time they’ve won anything this big.

The couple is originally from Regina but now lives in Kannata Valley.

“This is actually our first time visiting (the home),” Janice said. “We hadn’t been in it (until) today but we watched the virtual tours probably 100 times now that we had found out we won.”

Janice said she and her husband were in disbelief for a moment when they heard the news.

Other winners included: Nathan Bojarski of Buena Vista, who won the Triple the Tropics VIP Prize; Carla Fochesato of Regina, who won a fully electric 2023 BMW i4 M50 xDrive; Randy and Sharon Szilagyi of Weyburn, who won a seven-night, all-inclusive experience for eight on a private island in Belize; Bev and Debra Dunn from Carlyle, who won the 50/50 prize of $536,425; and Lynne Wunder from Theodore, who can choose between a 2023 Dodge Challenger, a 2023 FIAT 500X Pop, a 2023 Jeep Renegade North 4×4 or $38,000 in cash.

According to Dino Sophocleous, the CEO of the Hospitals of Regina Foundation, the spring home lottery raised about $1.8 million.

“That will go a long way in supporting our commitments for this year in 2023 to the hospitals,” Sophocleous said. “Our commitments exceed $6 million this year, so that will be quite a bit of help.”

Sophocleous said the money will go towards many different areas including:

• More than $1 million towards pediatrics for children;
• $500,000 for cardiac programs at the Mosaic Health Centre;
• $200,000 fellowships for doctors who want to become specialists and practise in Regina;
• $200,000 expansion to College of Medicine teaching areas at Regina General Hospital; and
• $800,000 for a new neuromicroscope that will allow surgical teams to map the brain before brain surgeries.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Shane Clausing