Victoria Hospitals Foundation 2023

A $10 million campaign to fund 200+ equipment pieces for Victoria hospitals

DONATIONS MATCHED FOR A LIMITED TIME

YOUR IMPACT TO HELP OUR HOSPITALS WILL BE DOUBLED

BREAKTHROUGHS IN LOCAL CARE START HERE

Innovation in our hospitals truly begins with a clinician who wants to change the life of a patient, and a passionate community who is willing to stand behind them.

Our donors helped our hospitals work towards recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic with priority equipment upgrades and enabled local care advancements on Vancouver Island. I sincerely thank you for responding, all 4,300 of our donors who supported the first two phases of our Emerge Stronger campaign.

Our community can support the caregivers in Victoria hospitals by helping raise the final $3 million of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s $10 million pandemic response campaign, Emerge Stronger

FUEL THE BRILLIANT MINDS IN VICTORIA HOSPITALS

COMMUNITY SUPPORT TRANSFORMS STANDARD CARE INTO STATE-OF-THE-ART CARE

Victoria Hospitals Foundation launches Innovation, the third and final phase of the $10 million Emerge Stronger campaign.

Since the launch of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s $10 million fundraising campaign, Emerge Stronger, in October 2021, more than 4,300 community members have united to raise over $7 million to support every area of care within the three hospitals the Foundation serves: Royal Jubilee, Victoria General, and Gorge Road hospitals.

The campaign’s first phase, Recovery, raised $4 million to help Victoria hospitals recover services and upgrade priority equipment impacted by the pandemic. The second phase, Local Care, raised $3 million to support Island-first advancements in our hospitals to keep patients close to home while they heal.

Now, the final phase, Innovation , centres on raising $3 million for ground-breaking research and equipment that allows our care teams to deliver more efficiently now, and into the future. For patients who are waiting for breakthroughs in care, your support can’t come quickly enough.

INNOVATION PHASE: $3 MILLION

INNOVATIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS

Your giving can be the catalyst that a clinician needs to transform their novel idea into reality. Help develop new care methods today by suppor ting research projects in our hospitals.

NEW & ADVANCED EQUIPMENT

You can help fund new and improved equipment our care teams have asked for. New equipment has the power to significantly improve care for Island physicians and their patients.

As we turn to the next and final phase of Emerge Stronger, our hospitals need our community’s continued support as they innovate for a better future.

Together with your help, we aim to raise $3 million for ground-breaking research and equipment that will allow our care teams to deliver care more effectively now, and in the future. And I know that achieving true excellence requires vision and leadership. Even the brightest minds can only accomplish so much without the resources they need to make their ideas a reality.

The most innovative healthcare systems in the country have the most philanthropic support. Many people don’t know that donors fund 40% of the equipment at Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals, or that our hospitals are referral centres for more than 860,000 Vancouver Islanders.

We know you are asking for new ways for care to be delivered. You are asking for change. Together, with our clinicians and researchers, we are committed to responding.

When community members like you support innovation and research, you empower profound medical advancements that can significantly impact someone’s care and quality of life, and even prevent them from needing to step foot inside our hospitals at all. Our donors are truly the catalysts that enable our clinicians’ transformative research—research that simply would not be possible without this support.

I hope you will read the following stories and letters from within our hospitals. They share the perspectives of some of our hospitals’ brightest minds, most dedicated clinicians, and most grateful patients. Together, they highlight just how much community support can achieve for the healthcare we all rely on.

I’m also proud and grateful to share that Peninsula Co-op will match all donations up to a total of $100,000 for the Innovation phase until March 31, 2023. This is your opportunity to have your gift matched and make an immense and lasting impact on the future of care in our local hospitals—and beyond.

Avery Brohman

Victoria mother given a “second chance at life” after 1% chance of survival

On the night of November 11, 2021, I put my six-year-old daughter to bed like I always do— but the hard part is that I don’t remember saying goodnight to her. I felt really tired and decided to go to sleep.

Then I woke up at 3:45 in the morning with a terrible headache, and I collapsed.

My husband Matt called an ambulance and I was transported to Victoria General Hospital. A nurse took him to the family room and gently told him, “I’m so sorry. Your wife has had a catastrophic brain hemorrhage and she’s not likely to make it. You need to start making some phone calls.”

As I was being prepped for

brain surgery, my physician said that I had a 1% chance of survival—and even if I did survive, I was going to be in the hospital for six months, learning how to walk and talk again. They were unsure how much function I would regain. It was devastating news for my family.

Thankfully, I had an incredible surgeon, and she got me through the surgery, reporting afterwards that she was confident she got all of the blood out of my brain. It was a miracle.

After the surgery, I continued to get better and better. And the nurses were wonderful. They pushed me and challenged me through my recovery, and it was exactly what I needed. Incredibly,

‘‘The role of chemistry was crucial in Sara’s early care when she was in the Intensive Care Unit. Testing helped watch how her brain was reacting to her devastating injury and manage her fluids and her electrolytes while she couldn’t eat or drink. It was pivotal to making sure that her brain was recovering in a stable environment.”

I was talking immediately and walking within a couple of days. About three and a half weeks later, I was able to go home. Today, I am grateful to be part of a community that cares about healthcare. If it could happen to me, it can happen to anyone. If we want the healthcare that is going to save us, our community has to step up to advance the care we all rely on. I had a 99% chance of not being here, and that changes you. Every morning when I

wake up, it’s a gift. There aren’t words to describe it. When I came home from the hospital and saw my daughter, it was just unbelievable to know that I was there holding her. I kept saying, “Mommy’s okay.” I can’t believe that I’m here and I get to experience life with her again. The care I received truly gave me a second chance.

Sara Brownlee

Grateful patient, Victoria resident, public servant, wife, and mother

Sara in the Intensive Care Unit after her life-saving surgery

Sara was unconscious before and after her surgery. Though she was unable to speak, her care teams were constantly responding to her needs by running tests in the background—including blood samples just like the ones that are processed through the Chemistry Line at Royal Jubilee Hospital (RJH). Sara is just one of thousands of patients on Vancouver Island who require vital blood tests to monitor their status, sometimes as often as every 30 minutes.

You can help ensure these urgent requests are processed as quickly and as accurately as possible by helping fund a new $2.1 million Automated Chemistry Line for Royal Jubilee Hospital through the Emerge Stronger campaign by visiting victoriahf.ca/give-today or calling 250-519-1750.

‘‘Our current Chemistry Line is over 20 years old which means it needs a lot of maintenance. It does affect our patients. It does affect our time to get results. And it affects how our physicians can take care of our patients. The new automation line, being new and being more up-todate, will certainly get the samples to the analyzers much quicker.”

DIAGNOSTICS

Automated Chemistry Line Royal Jubilee Hospital $2,175,000

• Conducts tests on patient samples such as blood

• Will replace current 20 -year-old Chemistr y Line (most-used equipment in Island Health)

• Can run over 1,200 tests per hour (current system can run about 1,000 tests per day)

• Can complete an electrolyte panel 15 minutes faster than current system

• Equipped with an emergent test track to fast-track samples needing urgent results

CEO, Victoria Hospitals Foundation

Avery Brohman, CEO, Victoria Hospitals Foundation

Sara with her daughter

Madelyn’s Story: “Better Equipment Provides Better Results”

When caregivers at Cowichan District Hospital noticed two-dayold Madelyn was having seizure activity, she was transferred to the NICU at Victoria General Hospital (VGH), Vancouver Island’s referral centre for maternity and pediatric care. The family remained there for 10 days while tests were performed and Madelyn was treated with anti-seizure medication. Eventually, her parents Chelsea and Matthew learned their daughter had suffered a perinatal stroke, likely around the time of birth.

The family was discharged and returned home to the Cowichan Valley. Then, Chelsea noticed a red mark on Madelyn’s knee, resembling a bug bite.

Matthew and Chelsea monitored the knee closely. A few days later, the knee swelled significantly, so much that it prompted the couple to call their midwife, who expressed concerns of infection and advised them to drive back to VGH.

The family arrived at VGH on a Friday afternoon, where

care teams conducted bloodwork, an ultrasound, and withdrew fluid from Madelyn’s knee for a culture. The culture would take 48 hours to confirm results. In the meantime, Madelyn was started on a variety of antibiotics to address concerning bloodwork results.

The next morning, Dr. Peter Dryden, the Division Head of Orthopedic Surgery, examined Madelyn and informed Matthew and Chelsea that she may require surgery.

Once the culture results were available, Dr. Dryden shared the news that Matthew and Chelsea’s three-week-old daughter had a staph infection, and her knee had turned septic—the body’s extreme and potentially life-threatening response to an infection.

“Dr. Dryden was on it—we felt like we were in good hands with him,” says Chelsea.

“It felt like a rollercoaster, especially since we had just spent 10 days in the NICU,” says Matthew. “We were in survival mode.”

Dr. Dryden performed surgery on their daughter with

the help of an arthroscope—a thin tube with a camera and light attached—to locate the infected area and wash fluid through it. The scope allows for such procedures to be minimally-invasive, which, in many cases, means smaller incisions, quicker recovery times, and less chance of infection.

Most importantly, the arthroscope offered Dr. Dryden and his team essential visibility while operating on such a small patient.

The surgery was successful, and Madelyn spent the next six weeks recovering and being treated with antibiotics at VGH. Today, she is doing well, and is meeting all milestones expected of a six-month-old baby. Now that the couple have settled into everyday life with Madelyn, Matthew and Chelsea are optimistic

Our population is growing, and with that growth comes the need for more resources,” says Matthew. “It’s about giving doctors the ability to do the best they can,” adds Chelsea.

about their family’s future.

“We’re about to start swimming lessons with her, which is going to be great,” says Matthew. “We can’t wait—she’s getting more and more mobile everyday, and we’re so excited for the road ahead.”

The couple hope Madelyn’s story will help highlight the need to support our Vancouver Island hospitals.

“Madelyn’s gone through a lot in her short life, demon -

INNOVATION PHASE: $3 MILLION

INNOVATIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS

Your giving can be the catalyst that a clinician needs to transform their novel idea into reality. Help develop new care methods today by supporting research projects in our hospitals.

SURGICAL SERVICES

DIAGNOSTICS

NEW & ADVANCED EQUIPMENT

strating immense strength and resilience. Two serious life-threatening conditions within her first month—we never could have imagined this,” says Matthew. “Our population is growing, and with that growth comes the need for more resources.”

“It’s about giving doctors the ability to do the best they can,” adds Chelsea. “Better equipment provides better results.”

The community can help raise $209,000 and $313,600 respectively to support new Arthroscopy Instruments and Audio/Video (AV) equipment for the operating rooms at Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals through the Emerge Stronger campaign.

To make a donation, please visit victoriahf.ca/give-today or call 250-519-1750.

You can help fund new and replacement equipment in our Victoria hospitals. New equipment has the power to significantly improve care for both physicians and Island patients.

Orthopedic surgeon highlights need for equipment upgrades

INNOVATIVE RESEARCH

Your giving can a clinician needs novel idea into develop new care by supporting our hospitals.

NEUROSCIENCES

OArthroscopy Instruments and Operating Room AV Equipment

$313,600 - Victoria General Hospital

rthopedic surgeons treat a range of conditions, including musculoskeletal trauma, sports injuries, degenerative diseases, infections, tumors, and congenital disorders.

$209,000 - Royal Jubilee Hospital

In arthroscopic procedures, I use tiny incisions to get into the joint and view it through a small camera, as opposed to having to open it up through a larger incision. The benefit of smaller incisions is quicker recovery. There can also be less scarring, and many people have a faster and more successful return. Our incision size for arthroplasty has gotten smaller and smaller over time, and there are always new advancements.

• Enables orthopedic surgeons to perform procedures using tiny instruments which do not require large incisions

• Smaller incisions mean quicker recovery time and less scarring

Typically, meniscus tears in the knee and ACL reconstructions—a common injury in which we need to reconnect the strong bands of tissue that help connect the thigh bone to the shinbone—are performed arthroscopically. We also perform many shoulder and ankle surgeries arthroscopically.

• Provides clearer and more precise imaging than current tools

In the case of Matthew and Chelsea’s very sick three-week-old daughter, arthroscopy allowed us to flush fluid through her knee to get rid of her infec -

• Benefits patients with musculoskeletal trauma, spine diseases, sports injuries, degenerative diseases, infections, tumours, and congenital disorders

Automated Chemistry Line

Core Lab at Royal Jubilee Hospital

$2,175,000

tion. For this little one, I was easily able to put six litres of fluid through her knee in a very short time. The surgery took what was a really swollen and infected knee and turned it into a sore knee that would continue to improve—and eventually heal.

• Conducts tests on patient samples such as blood

• Will replace current 20-year-old Chemistry Line (most-used equipment in Island Health)

perform now, that’s a massive change in the procedure, with a great improvement in recovery time. My work is really about getting my patients back to a place where they are functioning again and in less pain. We want people to heal and to forget they ever had an injury at all—that’s the ideal scenario. Innovation in orthopedics means doing things a little differently. Quicker recovery times and smaller incisions are innovative, which makes arthroscopy innovative, and newer equipment really helps make this innovation possible.

• Can run over 1,200 tests per hour (current system can run about 1,000 tests per day)

• Can complete an electrolyte panel 15 minutes faster than current system

This new arthroscopy equipment is a much-needed improvement over our old equipment, offering clearer and more precise imaging. We could compare the old equipment to using a cell phone from the eighties—it’s at least 20 years old. If we were to go back 25 years and do an open ACL reconstruction, compared to the arthroscopic reconstructions that we

• Equipped with an emergent test track to fast-track samples needing urgent results

Physiatry Ultrasound

Victoria General Hospital

SURGICAL SERVICES

$44,000

• Produces real-time high-quality diagnostic images

Arthroscopy Instruments and Operating Room AV Equipment

$313,600 - Victoria General Hospital

• Helps physicians accurately identify joints, muscles, and nerves that need to be targeted during procedures

I have a colleague who says that everyone is going to need an orthopedic surgeon at some point in their life. Whether you are a child who falls off the monkey bars or you’re an older individual in need of a joint replacement, it’s in everyone’s best interest to support orthopedic surgery in our community. We see all walks of life, and there is no demographic that is not affected by the work we do.

$209,000 - Royal Jubilee Hospital

• Enables orthopedic surgeons to perform procedures using tiny instruments which do not require large incisions

• Will benefit patients with neurologic disorders such as stroke, MS, cerebral palsy, and spinal cord/brain injuries

• Smaller incisions mean quicker recovery time and less scarring

• Provides clearer and more precise imaging than current tools

• Will be used by Dr. Winston and his team in the Physiatry Rehabilitation Clinic

• Benefits patients with musculoskeletal trauma, spine diseases, sports injuries, degenerative diseases, infections, tumours, and congenital disorders

Dr. Peter Dryden Division Head, Orthopedic Surgery, Island Health

Through the Emerge Stronger campaign, donors to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation can help raise $209,000 and $313,600 respectively to support new Arthroscopy Instruments and AV equipment for the operating rooms at Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals.

You can support maternity and pediatric needs in our local Victoria hospitals

VICTORIA HOSPITALS FOUNDATION

Orthopedic team: Alyssa Elvedahl (RN), Melissa Meredith (RN), Dr. Peter Dryden (ortho surgeon), Michelle Irwin (RN), and Dr. David Saliken (ortho surgeon)

VICTORIA HOSPITALS FOUNDATION

Enable transformative research projects on Vancouver Island through the Emerge Stronger campaign

Understanding “breakthrough” episodes in patients with neuropathic pain: a community-based study of patient and healthcare impacts

Research led by: Dr. Michael Berger & Dr. John Kramer

People with neuropathic pain experience burning, stabbing, and aching in their hands and feet, making it difficult to walk, sleep, or sit comfortably. Even with medications to reduce symptoms, patients are likely to experience “breakthroughs” of pain, leading to frequent healthcare visits. This project aims to develop strategies to prevent breakthrough pain, improve quality of life, and reduce demand on the healthcare system.

$91,500 needed in community funding

Reducing overdose through innovation and lived experience

Research led by: Dr. Bruce Wallace

The toxic drug poisoning crisis continues to claim an increasing number of lives, leaving behind devastated families. Dr. Bruce Wallace is harnessing the power of drug-checking with the knowledge of lived experience of people who use illicit substances to stem the tide of opioid deaths aligned with Island Health’s harm reduction strategies. $90,000 needed in community funding

The impact of the ambitious research projects supported through this final phase of Emerge Stronger reaches beyond Vancouver Island. Together, we can help local visionaries challenge the status quo of how we deliver healthcare locally, nationally, and globally.

Reducing spasticity by harnessing the power of nitrogen instead of the world’s most deadly toxin

Research led by: Dr. Paul Winston

Spasticity is a disabling condition that affects hundreds of thousands of Canadians living with neurological disorders, including stroke, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, and brain injuries. Spasticity robs people of the use of their limbs, and can be deforming and painful. This team has developed a treatment to deepfreeze nerves with nitrogen gas using a tiny probe through the skin. The result is muscle relaxation, restored function for shoulders, arms, hands, and hips, knees, feet, and improved quality of life for many patients. $88,000 needed in community funding

Detecting respiratory pathogens in pneumonia patients to accelerate treatment and reduce costs

Research led by: Dr. Michael Chen & Dr. David Goodlett

Dr. Chen and Dr. Goodlett aim to develop a quick and affordable technique to identify respiratory pathogens (bacteria and fungi) in pneumonia patients. Currently, identifying pathogens can take a few days, and this project seeks to create a test that produces results in one hour. Rapid results can accelerate treatment and reduce costs, and could have an immense impact on survival and management for patients with sepsis (the body’s extreme and potentially life-threatening response to infection).

$93,000 needed in community funding

Learn about other projects you can support, such as Dr. Markus Sikkel’s cardiac research: victoriahf.ca/innovation

Today, you can support award-winning researchers with a matched gift

Q&A with Dr. Paul Winston

Researcher and Medical Director of Rehabilitation and Transitions at Victoria General Hospital

VHF: Tell us about your research project

Dr. Winston: We treat a condition called spasticity. It is a neurologic disorder that, for the purposes of this project, can happen after a stroke. Pain in the shoulder is the fourth most common disability after stroke, and the most common cause of pain. It’s so disabling that some people can’t participate in rehab. Many of these patients are paralyzed or have a high resistance to movement, which is what we call spasticity. People can’t use the limb that is affected by spasticity.

INNOVATION PHASE: $3 MILLION

INNOVATIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS

Your giving can be the catalyst that a clinician needs to transform their novel idea into reality. Help develop new care methods today by supporting research projects in our hospitals.

now it’s spreading around the world quickly. We’re presenting it everywhere, and I really do think it’s going to become a global practice. And the innovation is that we can go right to the patient’s bedside to offer this treatment, thanks to the portable ultrasound that donors funded through the Victoria Hospitals Foundation. We do the procedure and it has an instant effect. The patient can suddenly start moving their limb, or they tell us they no longer have pain.

NEW & ADVANCED EQUIPMENT

You can help fund new and replacement equipment in our Victoria hospitals. New equipment has the power to significantly improve care for both physicians and Island patients.

SURGICAL SERVICES

Arthroscopy Instruments and Operating Room AV Equipment

$313,600 - Victoria General Hospital

Our project aims to treat these people within the first weeks to months after their stroke so that we can eliminate their pain as much as possible, and stop their spasticity from getting worse. Otherwise, people get permanently deformed limbs that they can’t move. We’re trying to alter the course of that progression and offer immediate treatment so that they can participate in rehab and stop taking their medications—including opioids.

DIAGNOSTICS

Automated Chemistry Line Core Lab at Royal Jubilee Hospital

$2,175,000

$209,000 - Royal Jubilee Hospital

NEUROSCIENCES

INNOVATION PHASE: $3 MILLION RESEARCH

Conducts tests on patient samples such as blood

Enables orthopedic surgeons to perform procedures using tiny instruments which do not require large incisions

PROJECTS

The second part is treating the pain in hips and knees from arthritis that prevents patients from getting out of bed or getting to their chair, walking or participating in exercise. We freeze the nerves that carry pain to the hip and knee.

• Smaller incisions mean quicker recovery time and less scarring

We’ve had cases where there’s a patient upstairs who needs an overhead lift just to get up and down, and after this treatment, all of a sudden all the nurses are clapping because this 90-year-old patient is walking. Or there might be a patient who can’t use their arm, and they’re crying and they’re on opioids. They have their treatment and the next time we see them, we ask them how they are and they can say they’re fine.

in society. It might be too painful for someone to walk, or they might not be able to even dress or feed themselves. After treatment, we see many of these patients transform. Even if they don’t gain more movement, the pain goes away. They’re sleeping through the night. They’re not taking opioids or painkillers. It’s been really exciting for us to see that. For some people, the results are dramatic. We’ll often treat an inpatient at the end of the day. Each patient is different, but the excitement is the look on a therapist’s face when they come back in the morning and they say, “What did you do to my patient? They’re a new person!”

Physiatry Ultrasound Victoria General Hospital

$44 000

Produces real-time high-quality diagnostic images

VHF: Donors currently have an opportunity to help fund a $44,000 physiatry ultrasound. How does this equipment enable your work?

images was a big part of what made that possible.

VHF: What is the most meaningful part of this project for you?

Dr. Winston: What’s so meaningful for me is that it’s a really human project. It’s taking suffering and something that robs people of their independence and mobility, and giving them back as much as possible. We’re giving people back their freedom, their autonomy, and it has been very rewarding.

VHF: How does support from our giving community fuel your work?

NEW & ADVANCED EQUIPMENT

VHF: How does this improve someone’s quality of life?

Provides clearer and more precise imaging than current tools

• Will replace current 20-year-old Chemistry Line (most-used equipment in Island Health) Can run over 1,200 tests per hour (current system can run about 1,000 tests per day)

VHF: What do you think is the most innovative part of your project?

• Helps physicians accurately identify joints, muscles, and nerves that need to be targeted during procedures Will benefit patients with neurologic disorders such as stroke, MS, cerebral palsy, and spinal cord/brain injuries

• Can complete an electrolyte panel 15 minutes faster than current system

Dr. Winston: This novel use of the technology was designed in Victoria, and

• Benefits patients with musculoskeletal trauma, spine diseases, sports injuries, degenerative diseases, infections, tumours, and congenital disorders

can be the catalyst that needs to transform their into reality. Help care methods today research projects in

• Equipped with an emergent test track to fast-track samples needing urgent results

Your gift is matched today!

DIAGNOSTICS

$2,175,000

You can help fund new and replacement equipment in our Victoria hospitals. New equipment has the power to significantly improve care for both physicians and Island patients.

Dr. Winston: Spasticity can prevent someone from participating to their capacity

• Will be used by Dr. Winston and his team in the Physiatry Rehabilitation Clinic

Dr. Winston: We cannot do this procedure without the ultrasound, which helps us locate the correct nerves to freeze. We have also just published the world’s first atlas on how to do ultrasound procedures for spasticity, and having really beautiful, high-tech ultrasound

Dr. Winston: Support from the community means we can create projects that meet the needs of our community. The community supports us by funding equipment through the Foundation. Ongoing supports means we can continue to build on projects they have already supported. We can keep building until we get even better.

To be supported by the people of Vancouver Island, and to be able to give back to the Island, is just amazing. Support from the community allows us total freedom to do this work.

Eleven-year-old regains movement after traumatic brain injury thanks to ground-breaking research

serious.

Automated Chemistry Line Core Lab at Royal Jubilee Hospital

victoriahf.ca/give-today 250-519-1750

NEUROSCIENCES

On December 7, 2020, Katie was already at work, and Niki was still asleep when Autumn came into their bedroom to tell him she had a headache.

Physiatry Ultrasound

Victoria General Hospital

$44,000

• Conducts tests on patient samples such as blood

atie has lived on Vancouver Island all her life. She has a husband, Niki, and two daughters. Their family loves spending time outdoors, whether it’s kayaking, hiking, or spending the day at the beach.

K• Will replace current 20-year-old Chemistry Line (most-used equipment in Island Health)

• Can run over 1,200 tests per hour (current system can run about 1,000 tests per day)

Then, she experienced what looked like a seizure, and began vomiting. Niki rushed Autumn to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, where he learned his daughter had an arteriovenous malformation (AVM), an abnormal tangle of blood vessels connecting arteries and veins in her brain, which had ruptured.

• Produces real-time high-quality diagnostic images

As a result of her traumatic brain injury, Autumn suffers from spasticity—a neurological disorder that creates a high resistance to movement—in her left arm, which was curled up to the point where she could no longer extend it. It also affected her left leg and caused some difficulty walking.

• Helps physicians accurately identify joints, muscles, and nerves that need to be targeted during procedures

Autumn was then airlifted to BC Children’s Hospital.

• Can complete an electrolyte panel 15 minutes faster than current system

A genetic blood disorder called hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) runs on Niki’s side of the family. Part of the disorder is characterized by the malformation of blood vessels—including vessels in the brain. For Niki, his mother, and his grandmother, the condition only ever manifested in more frequent nosebleeds than experienced by the average person. Katie never thought the condition would put her then nine-year-old daughter Autumn at risk for something far more

• Will benefit patients with neurologic disorders such as stroke, MS, cerebral palsy, and spinal cord/brain injuries

“We didn’t know if she would walk or talk again,” says Katie.

• Equipped with an emergent test track to fast-track samples needing urgent results

“With brains, you just don’t know. There was the thought that her life might be over.”

• Will be used by Dr. Winston and his team in the Physiatry Rehabilitation Clinic

“Autumn was receiving Botox treatments every three months at Sunny Hill for her spasticity. The Botox was not fun, and all of those needles were really painful,” says Katie. “It would deaden the muscle so that her arm could stretch out again, but she still couldn’t use it. It wasn’t helping her arm work again.”

victoriahf.ca/give-today

Autumn stayed in the hospital for nearly a month. At the end of December, she was moved to Sunny Hill Health Centre, a rehabilitation facility. There, she spent the next four months learning how to walk, talk, and eat again before she was finally able to return to her home in Nanaimo and go back to school with the support of an Education Assistant.

Autumn’s physician at Sunny Hill thought she might be a good candidate for a ground-breaking treatment for those living with spasticity, and referred her to see Dr. Paul Winston, Island Health’s Medical Director of Rehabilitation and Transitions at Victoria General Hospital.

250-519-1750

“When we first went to see Dr. Winston, we were in the waiting room and Autumn kept saying she was scared,” says

Katie. “But there was an older woman in the waiting room with us, and she told us that she couldn’t walk two months ago, and thanks to Dr. Winston she was now walking with the help of a walker.”

When Autumn first met Dr. Winston, she was the youngest patient in the world to ever receive his nerve-blocking treatment for spasticity. The novel use of this technology was designed by Dr. Winston and his team in Victoria, and, as far as they know, it is the only treatment of its kind in the world. The team is now working to present the procedure across North America, Europe, and beyond, with the hope that it will become a global practice.

Dr. Winston treated Autumn’s left arm and a few spots in her leg by inserting a tiny probe with nitrogen gas to deepfreeze the nerves that were

causing her muscles to contract and tense up. He used a physiatry ultrasound to help locate which nerves to freeze.

Immediately, Autumn was able to begin to stretch out her arm and move her fingers for the first time since her stroke in December 2020.

Today, Autumn is able to use her hand, and can grasp and let go of objects. Her walking has also improved, and she’s limping less. She still does speech therapy to help with her short-term memory problems, but Katie says she continues to get better.

“She has come so far. We’re pretty hopeful that she will have full use of her arm again through the nerve-freezing treatments,” says Katie. “Autumn is really happy about being able to use her arm and hand again, and she loves going to see Dr. Winston.”

“This is going to be life-changing for Autumn. It will be the difference between whether or not she can drive one day,” says Katie. “She’ll still have some social issues and things like that—but she’s here, and that’s what’s important.”

Dr. Paul Winston performing a procedure

Eleven-year-old Autumn receiving care in the hospital

VHF: Tell us about your research project.

Dr. Chen: I’m interested in advancing clinical diagnostics, which means making diagnosis faster, easier, more affordable, and better quality. Currently, diagnosing a patient with pneumonia— especially a very sick patient who is intubated—requires a procedure to “wash” their lung and then culture the fluid that comes off of the lung. The culture is very time-consuming, and it can take 72 hours to get a result. This isn’t ideal because 72 hours is a long time to wait to start the right therapy for that patient, and it can sometimes result in negative health outcomes.

Through this research project, our goal is to identify the bacteria or other pathogens directly from the lung wash fluid and bypass that lengthy culture step completely. We could then identify the pathogens within an hour of receiving the fluid in the lab, so the patient could start receiving the appropriate treatment the same day, rather than

three days later. Ultimately, this will improve care, and it helps both the clinicians and the patients.

VHF: What do you think is the most innovative part of your project?

Dr. Chen: Globally, no one is doing what’s called “direct-from-specimen” analysis, which means you don’t have to culture it to grow and amplify the number of pathogens. Globally, everyone follows routine clinical care, which is to culture the specimen for up to 72 hours, find out what pathogens are growing, and then determine the treatment from there. So, the innovative part of our project is the rapid diagnosis—and it’s also more affordable for our healthcare system, and better quality. This is immediately relevant for the Vancouver Island population. From there, we can offer it provincially, and grow organically from there.

VHF: What does this research mean for a future patient with pneumonia?

Dr. Chen: In principle, whenever you have early diagnosis and treatment, patients are able to receive the right treatment in less time. We call this precision medicine, and it’s about treating the patient individually rather than the entire population. If you and I are both sick with pneumonia and we don’t know what pathogen is causing it, we get the same treatment—maybe the same antibiotic. But the faster we know what bacteria is causing you and I to be sick—because it could be a different bacteria for each of us—the sooner the right antibiotics can be given. This decreases the chance of

disease progression, and can be lifesaving for a patient in the ICU who has chronic or complex infections.

VHF: Why did you choose Vancouver Island to live and work?

Dr. Chen: I trained at McGill University, and I did a fellowship here. I stayed for four months while I was doing my research, and I just fell in love with the place. Who doesn’t? I have two little kids, and it’s a great place to raise a family. Island Health has been very supportive in providing the space and some of the infrastructure for my research. Overall, I think this is the right place for my career, and for my family too. I have to say that I was interviewed at Vancouver, but I chose Victoria, and I say that proudly.

VHF: What’s your “why?” What drives your work?

Dr. Chen: I am a clinical pathologist, so my daily work is trying to provide the right diagnosis to clinicians and patients. But I am always looking for areas of improvement. We can always do better, and I see this every day in my work. I ask questions like, “Why does this take so long? Can it be faster?” or “Why is this so expensive and inaccessible to the patient?” You really need to gather and develop that expertise to translate it into a better outcome for the patient. All of my work centers around what can immediately impact healthcare and the patients.

VHF: How do community donations help fund local innovation?

Dr. Chen: I think we are in a unique position on the Island. There are a lot of very dedicated and knowledgeable people here who are keen to find ways to improve healthcare. We also have support from Island Health, academic institutions, and foundations like VHF who want to help us. I didn’t reach out the Victoria Hospitals Foundation—I was introduced to the Foundation because they wanted to support us. This has set me up for success.

VHF: What does the word “innovation” mean to you?

Dr. Chen: It’s something that requires you to think outside of the box and challenge the status quo. It’s also about not being afraid to look for the answers that are out there.

VHF: What gives you hope for the future?

Dr. Chen: I’m very optimistic, partly because I have very good support and good collaborators both on the Island and in the province. I have wonderful students from the University of Victoria who are well-trained and very keen to learn new things. But I think most importantly, the relationships I have with scientists, the hospital system, the patients, and the Foundation continue to grow. So, I think the future is very bright. With the right support, we can tackle anything. And it’s continuous support from donors that allows us to carry on.

To support innovative research projects that help advance care for patients like Autumn through the Emerge Stronger campaign, visit victoriahf.ca/give-today or call 250-519-1750.

ABOUT THE VICTORIA HOSPITALS FOUNDATION

For over 30 years, donors to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation (VHF) have been making a difference in the health and care of patients across Vancouver Island. The Victoria Hospitals Foundation works to enable donations to every area of care at Royal Jubilee, Victoria General, and Gorge Road hospitals.

The Foundation runs fundraising campaigns to inspire community giving in order to replace and fund new equip-

ment and technology, build new hospital units, accelerate ground-breaking research, train staff, and ultimately improve the health of the community. When the community unites together for Victoria hospitals, local care teams can use state-of-the-art equipment much sooner than if we relied on government funding alone. It also gives patients a better chance at staying on the Island while they receive care. Having the best equipment means attracting the best and brightest from around the world to work in Victoria.

VHF is proud that Vancouver Island hospitals can provide world-class care to the community, thanks to donors. This truly embodies VHF’s vision that “giving makes us all better.” Thanks to the generosity of community donors, the Victoria Hospitals Foundation has raised more than $181 million to benefit our hospitals since 1989. To learn more about the Victoria Hospitals Foundation visit: victoriahf.ca.

TOGETHER, WE CAN Emerge Stronger

We extend a sincere thank-you to Peninsula Co-op for generously matching community donations to the Innovation phase of Emerge Stronger up to a total of $100,000. Donate by March 31 to ensure your donation has twice the impact.

We are so close to our goal! Will you help us reach $10 million with a matched gift today?

PHASE

RECOVERY COMPLETE: $4 MILLION RAISED

PHASE 2: LOCAL CARE COMPLETE: $3 MILLION RAISED

BY MAIL BY PHONE ONLINE

Donations of all sizes make an impact—an impact that Victoria hospitals, local caregivers and all 860,000 Vancouver Islanders will value for years to come. We invite you to join our donor family, a group of passionate individuals who are driven to advance local healthcare. Victoria

PHASE 3: INNOVATION $3 MILLION NEEDED

Q&A with Dr. Michael Chen Head of Chemistry, Island Health

Dr. Michael Chen in a chemistry lab VICTORIA HOSPITALS FOUNDATION