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Victoria Hospitals Foundation raising money for equipment and research

The fundraising campaign is looking to fund over 200 pieces of priority equipment
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Urologist Dr. Nathan Hoag demonstrates the use of a ureteroscope inside an operating room at Royal Jubilee Hospital. (Austin Westphal/News Staff)

The Victoria Hospitals Foundation is raising money for equipment and research in the final phase of its $10-million Emerge Stronger fundraising campaign.

The campaign is looking to fund over 200 pieces of priority equipment for the Royal Jubilee, Victoria General and Gorge Road hospitals.

Over 4,300 donors have given a total of more than $7 million since the campaign launched in October 2021.

Funding from the final phase will be used for a $2.1-million automated chemistry line for Royal Jubilee Hospital. The current chemistry line is over 20 years old and is used more than any other piece of equipment across Island Health. The new chemistry line can perform 1,200 tests every hour, while the old line performs 1,000 to 1,500 tests each day.

“Quicker turnaround times help ensure patients have the best chance at a meaningful recovery and survival,” said Dr. Omar Ahmad, Island Health’s department head of emergency and critical care medicine. “The chemistry line is absolutely crucial to the work we do here in the hospital. An updated automated chemistry line will help increase efficiencies and result in an improved care journey for our patients, especially those who come through our emergency departments and spend time in our intensive care units.”

A goal of the final phase is also to support multiple research projects. These include projects aiming to detect respiratory pathogens in pneumonia patients, create and assess new ways to reduce overdose harm and improve the quality of life for people with neuropathic pain.

“Innovation begins with a clinician who wants to change the life of a patient, and a passionate community who is willing to stand behind them both,” Victoria Hospitals Foundation CEO Avery Brohman said. “For the patients who are waiting for breakthroughs in care, philanthropy continues to be the vital link that empowers our brightest minds to transform challenges into solutions.”

READ MORE: Greater Victoria hospitals ‘emerge stronger’ after COVID-19 pandemic


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