Your Health Matters fall 2017

IN THIS ISSUE ROYAL COLUMBIAN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION MAGAZINE

Your Health Matters FALL/WINTER 2017 EDITION

THIS MAGAZINE BROUGHT TO YOU WITH GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM

+ OUR TIME UNDER THE LIGHTS

Unprecedented $1.3 billion hospital redevelopment is underway

+ DREAM RECOVERY

Young man pursues career in golf after rehabbing from spinal injury

+ CLOSURE FOR THE HEART Donor-funded technology gives cardiac cath lab an improved look

+ THE SMALLEST OF THE SMALL

Two years after their girl is born weighing less than a pound, Coquitlam family recounts surreal moment

Redevelopment is underway April 6, 2017 will forever be a milestone date in the long and rich history of Royal Columbian Hospital.

That afternoon, approval was announced for an unprecedented $1.3 billion multi-phase, multi-year redevelopment that will transform the hospital by the time the work is completed in 2026.

If you have been by the hospital in recent months, you will know that construction is already underway.

Excavation has been taking place on the site of what will be the new 75-bed Mental Health and Substance Use Wellness Centre - the centrepiece of the first phase of redevelopment.

As the Foundation continues to work with donors to raise $9.1 million for mental health, it is wonderful and inspiring to note that support for this new centre has been decades in the making.

With the help of donors in the early 1990s, the Foundation purchased the land on which the mental health facility is being built. Now, something truly remarkable will result from a decision made all those years ago.

Speaking of donors, we are proud to announce that BMO Financial Group has committed $1 million towards mental health. Leadership like that is critical to the success of our fundraising efforts.

Shortly after the new mental health building opens in 2020, construction will start on the next phase of redevelopment – a new acute care tower that promises to deliver far‑reaching, game-changing, transformative improvements in how health care is shaped and offered here.

The third phase will expand the capacity of existing parts of the hospital, including the neonatal intensive care and pediatric units as well as medical imaging and the lab. It will also create more single-patient rooms.

We hope you will join Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation in supporting this project every step of the way.

Doug Eveneshen

Chair, Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation

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YOUR HEALTH MATTERS I ROYAL COLUMBIAN HOSPITAL FOUNDATION

Jeff Norris

President & CEO, Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation

CONTENTS VOLUME 3 • ISSUE 2

EDITOR Jason Howe CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Jerald Walliser LAYOUT & DESIGN Gary Slavin COVER DESIGN Signals Design Group PUBLISHED BY New Westminster Record

Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation Board of Directors

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Chair: Doug Eveneshen Vice Chair: Tom Corsie Treasurer: Steve Osachoff Secretary: Colin Galinski President and CEO: Jeff Norris Directors: Dr. Sukh Brar, Frank Butzelaar, Meldy Harris, Larry Kozak, Farid Rohani, Dr. William Siu, Norm Taylor, Rana Vig

8 2 We welcome your comments on Your Health Matters magazine.

Please email info@rchfoundation.com or write to us c/o Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation, 330 East Columbia Street, New Westminster, BC V3L 3W7.

Established in 1978, Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation raises millions of dollars annually to purchase medical equipment, fund innovative programs, and support training and research. To donate, please visit www.rchfoundation.com or call 604-520-4438.

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Greetings

Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation Chair Doug Eveneshen and Foundation President and CEO Jeff Norris

Inspired giving

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Young man pursues career in golf after rehabbing from spinal injury

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A legacy of giving back

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Our time under the lights Unprecedented $1.3 billion hospital redevelopment is underway

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Report to donors

With the help of donors like you, we are able to purchase lifesaving equipment each year

The smallest of the small

Two years after their girl is born weighing less than a pound, Coquitlam family recounts surreal moment.

Keeping charity in mind when drafting a Will

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Closure for the heart

Donor-funded technology gives cardiac cath lab an improved look

Behind-the-scenes briefs

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Dream recovery

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Sports medicine

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Robert McCormack prepares for the Winter Games

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INSPIRED GIVING

CFL legend Lui Passaglia put on the hospital scrubs in support of a campaign to raise money for colonoscopes. The effort is led by the Jack Gin Foundation, which will match the next $25,000 in donations to Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation for colonoscopes. Lui lent his support after undergoing treatment for colon cancer following a diagnosis in 2013.

Support from the TB Vets Charitable Foundation will allow some Royal Columbian Hospital patients who face respiratory failure to avoid the need to be intubated. A $25,000 donation has helped to purchase a noninvasive ventilator that supports patients by using a face mask instead of intubation.

Royal Columbian Hospital’s Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine gathered on the hospital’s helipad to celebrate a combined contribution of $150,000 to Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation

Interventional cardiologists Drs. Gerald Simkus and Roger Philipp are surrounded by donors who contributed to Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation’s Cardiac Care Campaign. Donors gave $3.3 million for a full upgrade of the equipment and technology in the hospital’s two cardiac catheterization labs, the busiest in BC.

For the latest Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation news, follow us:

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By subscribing to our monthly e-newsletter at www.rchfoundation.com

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On Facebook: www.facebook.com/ RoyalColumbian

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On Twitter: @RoyalColumbian

A Legacy of Giving Back Keeping charity in mind when drafting a Will Born at Royal Columbian Hospital in 1928, Roy Brainerd grew up during the Depression. “They were hard times but we kids didn’t know any different and we always had enough,” Roy remembers. The family home on Harwood Street in Central Burnaby boasted abundant vegetable gardens, fruit trees and a chicken coop. It was “out in the country in those days,” says Roy, who attended Douglas Road School and later, Burnaby’s Hugh M. Fraser High School.

Roy left school at 15 to start what would be a 41-year-long career with Snap-on Tools. In 1951, he and his new wife Carol purchased a home for $6,000.

Again, times weren’t easy. They didn’t have a lot to live on. They had two mortgages, some used furniture, no car, and five dollars a week for groceries.

Carol worked as a telephone operator but became a stay-at-home Mom when their first daughter was born. Roy worked seven days a week. “You just didn’t have any money. Everybody we knew was in the same boat,” he says.

The years of hard work continued as they raised their three daughters. Roy eventually retired at 56, and he and Carol took that opportunity to become tireless volunteers in their community for the next 30-plus years. Among other volunteer roles, they lent their time to causes like Meals on Wheels in New Westminster, Burnaby Village Museum’s Friends of the Carousel project, as well as driving seniors for Burnaby Citizen Support Services.

Giving back to their community

Roy and Carol Brainerd have made plans in their WillS to remains a priority, as they financially support a number of charitable organizations, including Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation.

Donors since 1997, they have also chosen to remember the Foundation with a gift in their Wills. It’s their way of continuing their legacy of support after they’ve gone, and passing down their values around giving back.

Royal Columbian has always been close to their hearts, but its importance hit close to home one day in May last year. “I was going into the garden but came back inside because I felt a bit funny,” says Roy. “I collapsed and woke up on the kitchen floor.” Roy was rushed to Royal Columbian. The culprit

leave a gift to Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation. had been a blood clot in the lungs.

Fortunately, the impact of Roy’s fall had dislodged the clot. Doctors told him he would be just fine. “I had such good care. It was phenomenal. The doctors and nurses were so good to us,” says Roy. To learn how you can support lifesaving care at Royal Columbian with a gift in your Will, contact Catherine Cornish, Manager, Legacy and Community Giving, at (604) 520-4902 or catherine.cornish@fraserhealth.ca.

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OUR TIME UNDER THE LIGHTS Emergency physician Dr. Nigel Aspinall, perfusionist Tammie Fang, cardiac cath lab patient care coordinator Candice Clegg and emergency department nurse Gary Kainth are featured in a Foundation campaign to promote the $1.3 billion redevelopment of the hospital.

Unprecedented $1.3 billion hospital redevelopment is underway From its humble beginnings in 1862, with just 30 patient beds and one doctor, Royal Columbian has grown to become an indispensable leader in critical care, serving more than 1.8 million residents of the province.

Now, our hospital is set to make healthcare history once again, as a $1.3 billion redevelopment positions Royal Columbian to revolutionize critical care in BC. When the multi-year, multi-phase project is complete, our hospital will be fully transformed and ready to cope with the needs of a fast-growing, dramatically aging and increasingly diverse 21st-century population.

• Moving the heliport to Columbia Tower’s roof, away from future construction cranes • An advanced IT fibre optic and utilities pathway that ties into city infrastructure and enables advanced health care technologies.

PHASE ONE: MENTAL HEALTH EXPANSION (2016-2020)

Phase one construction is underway and includes: • A new 75-bed mental health and substance use wellness centre with new and expanded outpatient clinics, Fraser Health’s first older adult psychiatric unit, and a psychiatric high acuity unit, all to replace the aging 30-bed Sherbrooke Centre • A new energy centre to replace the aging power plant and tie into the city’s future district energy system • New parking, including a 400+ stall underground parkade plus a temporarily expanded visitor lot onsite, and a temporary offsite lot for employees

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Artist rendering of the entrance to the new Mental Health and Substance Use Wellness Centre.

PHASE TWO: ACUTE CARE TOWER (2020-2024)

By the end of phase two, the hospital will have added 50 per cent more beds, from 446 to 675. Phase two will include: • A new Acute Care Tower with: - More beds for intensive care, cardiac intensive

care, medicine and surgical patients, all in single-

patient private rooms - A new, larger Emergency department with a satellite medical imaging unit - Three more operating rooms, three more

interventional suites for cardiology, two more

interventional suites for diagnostic radiology, and

one more MRI all connected to interventional

services in the existing Health Care Centre,

creating one interventional ‘super floor’ - More maternity beds and a new maternity

operating room. Units for moms, dads, children,

and newborns will be relocated to the same floor

for a more family-centred experience • A 400+ stall underground parkade, a new main entrance and a rooftop heliport • New advanced medical equipment and technologies, building services (e.g mechanical and electrical) and energy centre equipment • Replacement of the aging Sherbrooke Centre, old power plant, main entrance and laundry/maintenance buildings with site enhancements.

Preliminary concept of the new ACUTE Care Tower.

PHASE THREE: EXPANDING CAPACITY (2023-2026)

Phase three will upgrade and add capacity to areas in the existing Health Care Centre and Columbia Tower that support the beds and services added in phase two. This includes: • Expansion of support service areas such as the laboratory, pharmacy, food services, diagnostic services and medical imaging, and the addition of one more MRI • Expansion of the pediatric and neonatal intensive care units. These units will be physically linked to the maternity unit in the new acute care tower to create a ‘super floor’ dedicated to mothers, dads, and children • Conversion of four-bed patient rooms in Columbia Tower into single or semi-private rooms • Upgrade and move the cafeteria, administration offices and ambulatory care services.

Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation Chair Doug Eveneshen helps to announce approval of the hospital redevelopment on April 6, 2017.

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REPORT TO DONORS:

your gift is critical to the care we provide With the help of donors like you in 2016-17, Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation has been able to purchase equipment for a number of hospital departments, including the following:

In tune The sound of music brings comfort to Royal Columbian Hospital’s young patients, thanks to help from Variety – The Children’s Charity. A $20,000 contribution is funding the work of a music therapist in the hospital’s pediatric unit. By working with children who are admitted to the hospital, the music therapist is helping elevate the mood, encourage communication and reduce anxiety.

Music therapist Michelle Choi sings lullabies to a weekold girl as family looks on.

Critical care to go A medical team from Royal Columbian Hospital that is called upon by the region’s other hospitals to take over the care of critically ill patients is now travelling much lighter thanks to donors to Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation. Generous support has allowed the hospital’s Extracorporeal Life Support (ECLS) team – the only mobile retrieval team of its kind in the province – to become the first in British Columbia to acquire the CARDIOHELP system, a portable machine that takes over the function of the heart and lungs when a patient’s health is rapidly deteriorating.

The system was purchased because of a generous donation to the Foundation from Jeannette and Stan Hrescak. Maquet-Getinge Group, the company behind the CARDIOHELP system, also made their own gift, which allowed the hospital to obtain two of these machines.

The CARDIOHELP system is the world’s smallest portable heart-lung support system.

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Helping BC’s busiest cardiac care team Because of the generosity of our donors, BC’s busiest cardiac care team now has access to completely upgraded technology inside the cardiac catheterization lab. The $3.3 million project included all-new imaging and monitoring equipment. The donor-funded upgrade allowed for the introduction of new software and systems that provide a safer, more reliable delivery of care both for patients and staff. Those suffering from heart attacks across the health region are regularly rushed straight to Royal Columbian’s cath lab for immediate, emergency care. Annually, the interventional cardiology team performs 2,300 angioplasties and 3,100 diagnostic catheterizations – the most in the province.

Measuring oxygen supply The interventional cardiology team now uses state-of-theart equipment in the cardiac cath lab, thanks to donors.

People who have suffered a traumatic brain injury are among the patients that may require Brain Tissue Oxygen Monitoring. Set up by neurosurgeons for use in the Intensive Care Unit, the monitoring system alerts healthcare professionals of insufficient oxygen supply to the patient’s brain. It measures cerebral tissue oxygenation and temperature and detects cerebral hypoxia.

It is used in conjunction with intracerebral pressure (ICP) monitoring to assist in directing treatment of traumatic brain injuries.

The Brain Tissue Oxygen Monitoring System may be used on patients who have suffered traumatic brain injury.

Healing light Phototherapy light is used to treat jaundice in newborns. Jaundice is caused by increased levels of bilirubin in the blood and usually appears in the first few days of a baby’s life. While usually harmless, high levels of bilirubin can be dangerous to a baby. The phototherapy light waves are used by the baby to eliminate bilirubin from the body. The Dhillon family helped to purchase a new light for pediatrics.

Phototherapy helps to treat jaundice in newborns by eliminating bilirubin from the body.

Image enhancement Royal Columbian Hospital’s medical imaging department is making good use of a new ultrasound machine. The state-ofthe-art system is used regularly for routine and emergency ultrasound studies of just about any body part, from neonates to the elderly.

It’s also used as a tool to perform image-guided biopsies. The equipment was purchased courtesy of a donation from the Les family.

This new ultrasound is a powerful and versatile general imaging system that helps meet a wide variety of general needs in the medical imaging department.

Destroying tumours Ablation is performed by the hospital’s Interventional Radiology department to treat lung, liver, kidney, bone and soft tissue tumors. During microwave ablation, microwave energy is sent through a narrow, microwave antenna that has been placed inside a tumor. The microwave energy creates heat, which destroys the diseased cells and tissue.

It is a newer method of treating cancer that can target and kill cancerous cells and Microwave ablation relieve pain. It is used to treat is less invasive lung, liver, kidney, than surgery bone and soft with a faster tissue tumors. recovery time.

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DREAM RECOVERY

After recovering from a spinal injury suffered during a mountain bike accident, Josh Kujundzic rekindled an interest in golf.

Young man pursues career in golf after rehabbing from spinal injury

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Josh Kujundzic had just started going down the steep, unmarked trail near Simon Fraser University - a path he had ridden dozens of times previously - when the 18-year-old lost control of his mountain bike and crashed head-first into a tree. Alone at the time, he figures it was hours before he regained consciousness.

When he did, Josh struggled to move anything from the neck down.

“I had zero feeling,” remembers Josh, who in that moment believed he had become quadriplegic.

But as night started to set in, the feeling slowly returned, and Josh managed to stagger

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up the hill. “I was able to stumble my way up but fell and slipped a few times,” Josh says. “I went to get my phone out, but my arms were flailing around. I had no control.”

Fortunately, students who were driving by stopped and called 911. Josh was rushed by ambulance to Royal Columbian Hospital.

Compression “He hit head-first, his head went back, and you can end up with a hyperextension injury,” explains Royal Columbian neurosurgeon Dr. Navraj Heran, who also notes Josh had a naturally narrow spinal canal that predisposed him to the injury. “It can result in cord compression result-

ing in a central cord injury. It often presents with burning pain, paralysis, and sensory dysfunction.”

Rather than immediate surgery, Josh was hospitalized for three weeks while swelling of his spinal cord subsided. He then underwent a laminectomy in the operating room.

“That procedure removes the backbones of your spinal canal,” says Dr. Heran. “That creates more room for the spinal cord to move backwards a little bit and prevents any further compression.”

A week later, Josh returned home and began months of rehabilitation. “It was roughly six months before I was kind of back to my normal self,” says Josh. “But it was closer to a year before I was actually doing whatever I wanted.”

And it was four years before Josh rekindled an old interest: golf, which he had played competitively in high school.

In 2015, he became inspired by professional golfer Jordan Spieth’s win at the Masters Tournament.

“He’s around my age,” Josh points out. “Watching him win, that’s kind of where it clicked for me.”

With a goal of one day making the PGA, Josh has been working on his game since.

He says he often takes a moment to recognize how fortunate he is for the care by Dr. Heran and Royal Columbian.

“I am out here swinging a golf club, and I could have just as easily been in a coffin or in a wheelchair. I have a lot of gratitude and appreciation for the care I was given by all the staff.”

clot tends to form inside a location called the left atrial appendage.”

Blood thinners are typically the first line of therapy. But that wasn’t an option for Valerie.

“I have Crohn’s and colitis and diverticulitis too, which can all cause bleeding in the bowel, so I’ve been told not to go on blood thinners,” Valerie says.

Valerie qualified for another option – a minimally-invasive procedure in which Dr. Chan closes off the left atrial appendage permanently.

CLOSURE FOR THE HEART

Valerie Vandervelden became the first patient to undergo left atrial appendage closure at Royal Columbian Hospital using new donor-funded technology in the cardiac cath lab.

Donor-funded technology gives cardiac cath lab an improved look 77-year-old Valerie Vandervelden felt calm leading up to her scheduled heart procedure. She fully trusted Dr. Albert Chan, the interventional cardiologist who would be providing a drug-free option to lessen her risk of stroke. But as Valerie was brought into the cardiac catheterization lab, the Coquitlam resident was surprised at the large number of people standing by. She soon learned she was about to become part of Royal Columbian history, thanks to donors to Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation.

“Wow, there were all these people,” recalls Valerie. “Then they put me out, and I don’t remember anything much after that.” For years, Valerie had been dealing with atrial fibrillation

– an irregular heartbeat. She had a pacemaker installed many years ago.

But ongoing episodes put her at a higher risk of developing blood clots.

“What happens is blood can become more stagnant inside the heart’s chamber,” explains Dr. Chan. “When that happens, there’s a higher tendency of clots forming inside the heart, and particularly with atrial fibrillation, the

Dr. Margaret Blackwell and Dr. Albert Chan use a model of a heart to discuss closure of the left atrial appendage.

“I can deploy a device that sits there and blocks off the flow. There will be no blood going in and no clot coming out,” Dr. Chan describes.

Software upgrade Coincidentally for Valerie, the cardiac cath lab had just undergone a donor-funded $3.3 million equipment upgrade. Among the new technology is software that fuses live x-ray and 3D ultrasound to provide real time and comprehensive images of the heart’s structure.

Thanks to donors and helping to explain why there were so many observers during Valerie’s procedure, Dr. Chan believes Royal Columbian Hospital became the first centre in the country to use this technology to perform a left atrial appendage closure.

“It gives me more information about where the boundary of the appendage is,” says Dr. Chan. “By knowing the location and boundary of the appendage, everything goes faster, smoother, there’s less amount of contrast used and it’s quicker to position the device in the right place.”

Valerie says she was out of the hospital the next day and did not experience any pain.

“I didn’t even know there was anything done, really,” she says. “It’s really fantastic what they are able to do with people’s hearts.”

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THE SMALLEST OF THE SMALL

Two years after their girl is born weighing less than a pound, a Coquitlam family recounts surreal moment She is able to joke now that it was a sneeze, and not a push, that led to her daughter’s birth. But at the time, Nobue Yamaguchi Jones was stunned to have given birth at only 25 weeks pregnant.

Equally shocking was just how small the newborn girl was – 380 grams, just over three quarters of a pound.

Lillian Yamaguchi Jones had become the smallest baby Royal Columbian Hospital’s neonatal intensive care team ever had to support.

“On Saturday morning, I had a little spotting,” explains Nobue about what led her to go to Royal Columbian Hospital in late March 2015. “It

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was very minor, but I never had that spotting before, so I just wanted to go and get checked.”

To Nobue’s surprise, the doctor who examined her found the mother-to-be was dilating. The contractions started soon after. “After that, the doctor admitted me to bed rest,” says Nobue.

Having undergone in vitro fertilisation, the Coquitlam resident and nurse had been attuned to the potential complications of a pregnancy. But this was all happening so fast. Three hours after her arrival to the hospital, Nobue was now hoping to delay the delivery as long as possible.

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Lillian, resting her hand on her father’s finger, was born weighing only 380 grams, the smallest baby ever supported by Royal Columbian Hospital’s VARIETY neonatal intensive care unit.

Emergency delivery Her situation, however, was about to become much more urgent. Just before midnight, Nobue left the bed to go to the bathroom. That’s when she sneezed.

“She basically poked out,’ says Nobue.

“The water didn’t break. But something dropped. The doctor came and said it’s the sac. And one of Lillian’s hands was out.”

As the medical team made plans for an emergency C-section, Nobue and her husband Ennis tried to remain calm.

Nobue vividly remembers one doctor taking her by the hand to tell her she was doing great. That’s when all her

emotions came to the surface.

“I just burst into tears,” she recalls.

Half the size The neonatal intensive care team quickly took over care of Lillian after she was born.

“There’s a lot of physiology happening,” notes neonatologist Dr. Vinod Kesavan. “There is the heart, the lungs, the brain. The most important part is to try and maintain the perfusion, oxygen, nutrition, everything which is right and see how the child progresses.”

“She was in the most high-end incubator I had ever seen, recalls Nobue. “Her incubator, inside, was just so steamed up because she needed such a high humidity.”

Lillian’s size was stunning. “She was diagnosed with IUGR - intrauterine growth restriction,” says Nobue. “The placenta was about 50% of a normal one. So she was basically about half the size of a typical baby.”

“380 grams, that’s quite small,” notes Dr. Kesavan. “It’s extremely small, actually. When you look worldwide, it’s also very rare.”

Lillian spent the next 156 days under the care of the neonatal intensive care unit, which is one of four in the province prepared to care for extremely premature babies. Gradually, Lillian

Lillian and parents Ennis and Nobue doing skin-to-skin in the neonatal intensive care unit. became stronger and healthier.

“Being able to do a little bit more than the day before, it gave us hope and happiness,” says Nobue.

“When we do rounds, we’re making sure the weight is going up,” explains Dr. Kesavan, who credits the multidisciplinary team’s passion for the neonatal intensive care unit’s successes. “We’re trying to see whether we can turn down all the support systems. The child should be able to feed on its own and should not have any apnea or bradycardia for at least seven days. Then they are able to go home.”

Nobue has high praise for the care given to the entire family.

“They treated me as a parent,” she says. “They treated me as a team

member.” Two years later, Nobue says her little girl is doing great. Despite still needing help to eat, Lillian is walking, talking and playing.

“Every child is different, and this is normal for us,” Nobue says. “I’m just enjoying how she is doing and how happy she is.”

“Having the tiniest baby survive is not the most important thing,” says Dr. Kesavan. “The most important thing is to get the tiniest baby to survive intact.

That is, they should be functioning, and to the best of our knowledge, Lillian is doing very well.”

Lillian at age 2, playing with her parents.

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SPORTS MEDICINE When athletes gather next year for the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea, so will Royal Columbian Hospital orthopedic surgeon Dr. Robert McCormack, who is Team Canada’s Chief Medical Officer. He and fellow Royal Columbian orthopedic surgeon Dr. Dory Boyer are heavily involved in sports medicine, helping care for amateur and professional athletes at the highest levels.

RM: This will be my 10th Olympics as the team doctor. I started off in 2000 as the orthopedic surgeon for the Canadian team, and then in 2004 became head of the medical team. I have been at each Summer and Winter Games since then. Between Games, I am organizing things. There is a lot of planning before the Games to make sure everything is optimized, so the athletes can perform their best.

Foundation: What are your team’s main responsibilities?

RM: We are responsible at the Games for keeping the athletes healthy in terms of injury and illness. It’s not uncommon to have injuries, because athletes are always pushing the envelope. But if somebody has had injuries or illnesses like the flu, if they are not able to perform at their best, they are unlikely to be successful. We have to make sure people are at optimal health for performance.

Foundation: Aside from treating injury and illness, how else does your team help athletes become optimally prepared?

RM: We have to prepare them for a different level of stress. Some of these athletes have competed in relative anonymity, and then all of a sudden, there are 2,000 athletes and 10,000 media. All of a sudden they are in the spotlight. The levels of stress are much higher. It’s not always the best athlete that wins but the one that is best prepared to handle the Olympic environment. That’s why we actually have more sports psychologists than we do doctors at the Winter Games, because mental performance is as important for their success.

Foundation: The Olympics always have memorable moments. Do you get swept up in all of that?

RM: It’s hard not to get excited about the Olympics. It’s great. But as a sports medicine physician, it’s actually really important you don’t get swept up in the highs and lows. I’ve always said I can’t get too high or too low, because then I run the risk of making decisions that are in the best interest of the team rather than the individual, which is my priority.

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THESE STARS SHINE FOR ROYAL COLUMBIAN HOSPITAL. OUR TIME IS NOW. Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation is

Chair: Sue Paish

Paul Palmer

President & CEO, LifeLabs

Partner, EY

Doug Eveneshen

Barry Pearce

cabinet, which unites leaders from across

President & CEO, Community Savings Credit Union

Chief Project Officer, RCH, Redevelopment

our most critical industries, communities

Jeff Norris

Gary Pooni

and partnerships. With an unprecedented

President & CEO, RCH Foundation

President, Brook Pooni Associates (not pictured)

Mike Bonner

Salima Remtulla

Columbian now underway, we are committed

Senior Vice President and Regional Head, BC & Yukon, BMO Bank of Montreal

VP, Operations & Corporate Strategy, Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.

to supporting this $1.3 billion multi-year,

Dr. Sukh Brar

Tamara Vrooman

multi-phase project, every step of the way.

Past President, BC Anaesthesiologists Society & Anaesthesiologist, RCH

President & CEO, Vancity

honoured to present our capital campaign

redevelopment and expansion of Royal

The time? Definitely now. The opportunity?

Far-reaching, game-changing, transformative improvements in how critical care is shaped and delivered in BC.

Frank Butzelaar Chief Executive Officer, Seaspan ULC

Jonathan Cote Mayor, City of New Westminster

Kevin Desmond Chief Executive Officer, TransLink

Dr. Shahzad Karim

When it’s critical, it’s Royal Columbian. rchfoundation.com/critical

Graham Walker Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais

David Wesik Vice President, Operations & Corporate Development, Wesgroup Properties

Wade Winkler Partner, McQuarrie Hunter LLP

Don Wright

Cardiothoracic Surgeon, RCH

President & CEO, Central 1 Credit Union

Dr. Anson Koo

Salima Mawji

Chief Psychiatrist, Mental Health and Substance Use Program

Chief Development Officer, RCH Foundation

Kirk McLean Alumni, Vancouver Canucks

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Wesgroup is a proud supporter of the Royal Columbian Hospital and an advocate to advancing the health care facilities in BC’s fastest growing region.

wesgroup.ca