CELEBRATING 11 YEARS
OUR HEARTS BLEED the ICCHA/Wish Fund story
B
orn in Fiji, little did I know where my destiny would take me. Of all the places. I landed in Vancouver in 1968 where my united family made a living in business and like many others, lost everything in the recession of the 80's. In 1989, Kamloops gave my family a breath of fresh air when we bought Scott's INN & Restaurant. Over the years, coronary heart disease took the life of my mom and dad in Kamloops, my eldest brother in Vancouver and sister in Vernon. With such losses, priorities began to change. Thus, began the vision of "Giving Back to our Community" in 2007 when my friends Anil Parekh, Dr. Bas Gowd, Hasmukh Parekh and Bob Purohit each invested $10,000 to form the ICCHA/ Wish Fund. We first raised $75,000 to establish the Education Room for cancer patients with the Royal Inland Hospital. With our donation, we were able to spare them the journey to Kelowna or Vancouver because they were able to discuss their treatments at RIH. For political reasons, both the HEART CENTER and CANCER CENTER were awarded to Kelowna putting a huge stress to healthcare at RIH. Ever since, our community has consistently raised money for our healthcare needs while Kelowna gets a free hand. WHY? Our tax dollars need to stay in our community which RIH serves! Since inception, the ICCHA/Wish Fund and its supporters have raised over $1.2 million dollars for services and equipment which Interior Health Authority should have provided. We provided the first Lithotripsy equipment to crush kidney stones in the interior of BC. This allowed treatment for urinary
“Have a heart to give, for a heart to live.”
(kidney) stones to be performed locally and avoided major surgical procedures, long hospital stays and a journey to Vancouver. Currently, cardiac patients are being monitored for several days at RIH before they are transferred by ambulance to Kelowna for diagnostics because we do not have a Cath Lab. Many are treated for blockages, few are referred for surgeries while others return to be treated with medications. I have listened to so many patients regarding their traumatic journey to Kelowna and their families following them in brutal winter conditions adds danger to their own lives also. We have been petitioning the government and Interior Health Authority for the past two years to give our hospital a dedicated Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) with a Catheterization Lab (Cath Lab). We are thankful to the government and IH that has granted the CCU where cardiac patients will be cared for in one location monitored 24/7 by the state of the art Exprezzon monitors donated by the ICCHA/Wish Fund. However, these cardiac patients will still need to be transported to Kelowna in amblances or in serious cases flown to Vancouver for treatment. In a recent meeting, we learned that almost 1,000 cardiac patients each year from our region had angiogram/ angioplasty procedures done at Kelowna General Hospital(KGH). Their Foundation is already raising money for KGH’s third Cath Lab while we don’t even have one. It is insane to have seven cardiologists in Kamloops monitor our cardiac patients, waiting for them to be transported in a life and death journey.
With the statistics in own favour, the time is now for RIH to have a Cath Lab because our lives also matter. We need it and we are ready for it! Our goal is to raise $1 million dollars or more to stop the heartbreaking journey for cardiac patients and their families. We urge you all to sign the petition on our website: iwishfund.com and donate to improve cardiac care at our very own hospital. Thank you for your support and believing in all the WISHES which we made come true.
Al Patel
Founder of ICCHA/Wish Fund
“Have a heart to give, for a heart to live.” 7