LGH Foundation’s Community Cares Gala raises more than $200,000
More than 250 guests attended the third annual LGH Community Cares Gala on March 3 in Vancouver and helped raise a record $204, 624 (net) for the campaign to build a new Medical & Surgical Centre on the LGH campus. The gala, hosted by the Asian Advisory Committee of Lions Gate Hospital Foundation, continues to grow each year and was held at the Four Seasons Hotel for the first time to accommodate more than 250 guests. The total raised at the 2018 gala exceeds the amount of the previous two events combined.
LGH cardiologist Dr. Annie Chou was the gala’s keynote speaker and she shared her experiences of working at LGH and growing up on the North Shore. She also spoke of her excitement about the campaign to build a new acute care facility on the LGH campus and how it will improve patient care.
“I grew up on the North Shore and went to elementary and secondary schools within walking distance of the hospital,” said Dr. Chou, who has been a cardiologist for almost three years. “I worked at the fire hall across the road and I volunteered at Evergreen House… so I feel like I was destined to work at the hospital.”
Dr. Chou then spoke of her experiences working in an older building and the challenges that presents – four-bed patient rooms with one shared bathroom, lack of privacy, dark rooms, aging infrastructure.
New centre will improve patient care
“I believe our patients deserve better and this is why I am so excited about this effort to build the medical and surgical centre,” she said. “It will have 108 single-patient rooms with ensuite bathrooms. The quiet, private, restful environment will allow patients to relax and focus on getting well. And the rooms will have more space for family and friends to spend time with their loved one… This is also excellent news for me as a physician because happier patients recover more quickly. I will also be able to talk to my patients without worrying about who is on the other side of the curtain.”
To see more photos from the gala, click here. If you would like to be involved in next year’s event, please contact Stephanie Io – 604-984-5774 or email stephanie.io@vch.ca
The third annual LGH Community Cares Gala was held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver on March 3.