Richmond Hospital helps to keep Canada alive

This Sunday, the six-part documentary series, Keeping Canada Alive, begins on CBC Television and features the personal stories of patients from across Canada as they journey through a diverse range of health care services.

In Episode Six, the wellness journey of Richmond Hospital bariatric patient Nigel Wong is featured during the day on which he is scheduled to undergo gastric bypass surgery at Richmond Hospital.

In preparation for this life-altering procedure, performed by Richmond surgeon Dr. Sharad Sampath on May 6, Nigel had already lost 100 pounds, and successfully completed VCH Richmond’s unique pre-operative bariatric program.

Nigel’s story is featured in Episode 6, scheduled to air on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 9 p.m.

Nigel’s is but one of the more than 60 stories captured through the lens of 60 cameras that descended on health and home care locations in 24 Canadian cities to capture moving and highly intimate stories as shared by patients as well as health care providers.

The entire series was filmed during a single 24-hour period in May.

The Bariatric Surgery Program at Richmond Hospital is one of two sites in BC where the surgery and wrap-around program is offered. The highly specialized program deals with all medical aspects of patients with obesity-related surgical concerns, and treats patients from across the province.

The program has grown from a pilot project of just 12 initial surgeries and will treat more than 200 patients this year.

Keeping Canada Alive online

In addition to the six-part series, the companion online experience can be found at cbc.ca/keepingcanadaalive.

It features more than 40 hours of extended breakout footage, original content, and more, as well as an online 24-hour stream of raw footage.