Honouring the legacy of Milan Ilich
Richmond Hospital’s Westminster Health Centre will be renamed the Milan Ilich Pavilion in recognition of a new contribution from the Milan & Maureen Ilich Foundation, bringing their total donations to Richmond Hospital to $10 million. The new name will come into effect next summer after upcoming renovation projects have been completed.
Milan and Maureen Ilich have had an incredible impact on our health care community and it’s an honour to be able to recognize their philanthropy with the renaming of one of our key buildings. The legacy of Milan and his family will continue well into the future thanks to their latest donation that will see three new donor funded initiatives at Richmond Hospital including:
- Create a more patient and family friendly environment by investing in facility improvements in public areas of the hospital: The creation of this environment is an important initiative for Richmond Hospital and Richmond Hospital Foundation. The improvements planned for the facility will take shape along the main floor of the hospital, resulting in a more caring and calming environment for Richmond’s growing number of families and seniors.
- Invest in new technology and research for Richmond Hospital’s Urology Team: The investments in our Urology Department will allow new procedures and research to be performed by our team of urologists.
- Upgrade two additional operating rooms for minimally invasive surgery: The new funds will allow VCH-Richmond to expand the hospital’s total number of minimally invasive surgical suites from its current compliment of two, to four. The newly upgraded suites will allow Richmond’s surgeons to expand their use the latest surgical technology—minimally invasive surgery—which creates smaller incisions, results in less blood loss and provides for a quicker recovery time.
- Milan Ilich
The Milan and Maureen Ilich Foundation began giving to Richmond Hospital Foundation over twenty-five years ago, starting with a gift to help purchase a leading-edge CT scanner. Since then, Milan and Maureen have helped fund an additional CT scanner, an open-bore MRI machine and significant upgrades to Richmond Hospital’s Emergency Department and operating rooms.
Milan Ilich, founder of Progressive Construction and Progressive Contracting, first established his charitable Foundation in 1977.
On behalf of the staff, physicians and volunteers of Richmond Hospital, I would like to thank the Ilich family – Milan and Maureen Ilich, Rick and Lauren Ilich, and Barry and Laurie Cavanaugh for the impact they have had on patient care in Richmond and for their incredible generosity and commitment to the residents of this community. Their donations provide our medical teams with the latest technologies and result in better outcomes for our patients and clients. Their gifts truly help us change lives.
We will continue to honour their legacy not only through the renaming of the Westminster Health Centre, but also through the quality of care and service we provide in that building, the rest of our hospital, and throughout the rest of our community of care.
As Richmond grows, we hope our community will follow their leadership and help us respond to new health care challenges in Richmond.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Natalie Meixer and her team at the Richmond Hospital Foundation for all the wonderful work they do, through the generous support of donors, to fund equipment and enhancements at Richmond Hospital that help ensure Richmond remains one of the healthiest communities in Canada.
Mike
Mike Nader is chief operating officer of Richmond Hospital