On Saturday, January 26, the annual Scotiabank Feast of Fortune Gala hosted by St. Paul’s Foundation raised $1,008,993 for critical care equipment at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital (MSJ). Gifts totaling $147,360 had been made in October 2018 by members of the Scotiabank Feast of Fortune fundraising committee, and tonight, further donations made by gala attendees boosted funds for the hospital.
“I’m proud to support Mount Saint Joseph Hospital, which opened its doors to help care for the Chinese community in Vancouver at a time where not many others were doing so,” said Sing Lim Yeo, gala founder and committee member, and 2019 event honoree. “I’ve seen first-hand how philanthropy benefits the hospital, and I’m delighted that this evening we’ve collectively contributed over $1 million to continue to provide care and compassion to such an important cause.”
Now in its twelfth year, the Scotiabank Feast of Fortune galas have raised over $6.7 million for vital medical equipment purchases, including the hospital’s first digital mammography machine, echocardiography machine, 3D ultrasound breast scanner, CT scanner, and surgical and emergency care equipment.
This year, all money raised will go towards funding the greatest needs right across Mount Saint Joseph Hospital including life-saving equipment for cardiology, surgery, emergency, imaging, and more.
“Receiving the funding for this equipment is critical for us to be able to provide the timely and evidence-based care to our patients,” says Dr. Rudy Chow, Geriatric Cardiologist at Mount Joseph Hospital. “Gifts to MSJ’s greatest needs will make a huge difference, positively impacting patient care throughout the hospital.”
Medical staff have identified that medical equipment and technology have an increasingly important role to play in patient care, but on average medical equipment has a life span of only seven to ten years. It is the generosity of the community, through donations to St. Paul’s Foundation and support of the Scotiabank Feast of Fortune gala, which makes it possible for Mount Saint Joseph Hospital to maintain its current standard of care and acquire new technology.
“We are so grateful to our generous attendees, sponsors, and volunteers for their contributions this evening, which will allow us to ensure that our physicians and care workers have the critical equipment they need,” said Dick Vollet, President and CEO of St. Paul’s Foundation. “Tonight was a celebration of the work we can do when we come together, and I’m delighted that we were able to honour Sing Lim Yeo, whose personal commitment and contribution to Mount Saint Joseph is to be highly commended.”
The Scotiabank Feast of Fortune Gala is also a celebration of Chinese New Year, combining incredible food creations, spectacular live entertainment and a highly-anticipated live auction. This year featured amazing food creations by Chinese Restaurant Award winning chefs, and spectacular performances by popular Chinese-Canadian actress and singer Linda Chung and the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra. The gala welcomed around 700 prominent guests from Vancouver’s diverse community, as well as other influential supporters.
MSJ is an acute care community hospital with 101 beds for patient care, and 100 extended care beds for seniors. With a long history of care in the community, MSJ has earned an international reputation for excellence in serving the needs of multi-faith and multi-ethnic communities. Founded on the principles of adaptability and responsiveness to ever-changing community needs, it continues to fulfill this mission today.
MSJ offers acute, emergency and intensive care services, surgical and ambulatory care, plus a full range of diagnostic and outpatient services. Specialized services are also available for seniors that include geriatric medicine, geriatric psychiatry, and an extended care unit.
MSJ is home to the Providence Breast Centre, the first of its kind in BC, and one of the busiest breast clinics in the province. More breast reconstructive surgeries are performed at MSJ than at any other BC hospital. It is also home to the Dolly Ching Wan Wong Lee & Peter Chi Fai Lee Cardiac Ambulatory Clinic which offers diagnostic cardiac services for in-patients and community referrals. At MSJ, more cataract surgeries and corneal transplants are performed than at any other hospital in BC.
The Scotiabank Feast of Fortune is supported by our generous sponsors Scotiabank; Bold Properties; Blundell Seafoods; CBA Electrical & Security Systems Ltd.; ENERSOLV Design + Build; Sing and Patricia Yeo of Realtors Care; Brianna Qiu of Realty Alliance Inc.; Cisi Zhao, Jordan Guo and Winnie Chung of Royal Pacific Realty; Cheryl Kwok Notary Public; Gosen Properties; and our media sponsors, AM1320 CHMB, Fairchild Media Group, Global BC, OMNI and Ming Pao Daily News.