Your impact
Each year, you make it possible to deliver compassionate, innovative care to tens of thousands of people – while advancing critical research that saves and improves lives throughout BC.
Advancing life-saving research
Trina’s journey with cystic fibrosis
As a child, Trina Atchison wanted to be a veterinarian. But she never anticipated she’d live long enough to fulfil her dream.
In 1987, at only six months old, Trina was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) – a genetic, progressive, and fatal disease that primarily affects the lungs and digestive system. At the time, CF was a death sentence: most patients didn’t live beyond their teens.
Trina’s early childhood involved traveling from the Okanagan to appointments in Vancouver, sometimes staying for weeks at a time in the hospital on her own when her mother needed to return home for work. Once she reached her teenage years, Trina started receiving treatment at St. Paul’s Hospital, the largest provincial centre for adult patients with CF.
At 10 years old, Trina recalls finding a newspaper clipping featuring her family and their cystic fibrosis journey. She read, for the first time, that she wouldn’t celebrate her 12th birthday.
But Trina’s ‘expiry date’ kept changing. Due to medical advancements, Trina’s life expectancy shifted to 15 years old. Then 18. Then 21. Then 30.
Your gift changes lives
“You can’t really put a price on the impact that this treatment has had.” – Trina, grateful patient
Thank You
We are grateful to our generous donors who make innovative, compassionate care possible
Your support is improving lives throughout BC
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Seniors + Healthy Aging
A lifetime of giving
When asked what has motivated his family to give $6.3 million to St. Paul’s Foundation, BC resident Ken Shinozaki offers a simple reply. “It’s time for us to give back to society.” -
Patient Care
Celebrating 20 years of surviving cancer
Twenty years ago, Nate heard the words no one expects or wants to hear: “You have cancer”. As a private person, he didn’t tell anyone other than close friends and family. But now, it’s important for him to share his story and encourage others to give what they can to support care for patients living with cancer. -
Research and Innovation
A Western Canadian first: new automated AI-based lab system to transform care at St. Paul’s Hospital and beyond
A sophisticated new laboratory workstation, WASPLab, at St. Paul’s Hospital is using artificial intelligence and robots for repetitive tasks to let humans do the complex work. -
Research and Innovation
Improving brain health after complex surgery
A newly established research chair in perioperative brain health at St. Paul’s Hospital is committed to recognizing and preventing stroke during and after complex surgery.
Highlights from the year
New St. Paul’s Hospital reaches three-year construction milestone
After years of designing, digging, and building the new St. Paul’s Hospital, the latest advancement this summer was the “topping off”, which is the final concrete pour on the roof of the new hospital.
We are one step closer to delivering a world-class hospital that will serve our community for generations to come. Just east of Vancouver’s downtown core, the new St. Paul’s will be a 1.2 million square foot acute care hospital sitting on the Jim Pattison Medical Campus and connected by sky bridge to the Clinical Support and Research Centre (CSRC), a world-class research hub unlike anything else in Canada.
Two years ago, a 15-metre hole sat at the bottom of the new St. Paul’s Hospital site. Today, a sprawling hospital soars 11-storeys high with bridges connecting the East and West towers.
With the hospital now standing at full height, crews are busy working on exterior finishes and interior drywall and major equipment work for the rest of 2024; then it’s onto interior finishes and landscaping. The hospital will open to patients in 2027.
State-of-the-art care home village in Comox, British Columbia, welcomes its first residents
In a historic moment for seniors care in Canada, Providence Living at The Views, the nation’s first public long-term care home based on the concepts of a dementia village, welcomed its inaugural residents on July 8, 2024. Thanks to donor support, it represents a significant step forward in providing compassionate, person-centred care for seniors with and without dementia.
The move-in day was a heartwarming display of community support and meticulous planning, as nearly 90 volunteers and staff members came together to ensure a smooth transition for the 156 residents. Remarkably, the entire move was completed in less than six hours, with Parinas leading the way as the first resident to settle into the new care home village.
Providence Living at The Views marks a departure from the traditional institutional model of long-term care, focusing instead on creating a warm, home-like environment that prioritizes autonomy, social engagement, and first-class medical care.
Foundry announces 10 new centres for youth to access wellness services
Young adults in BC now have more places to turn to for essential health and wellness services. With 25 centres either open or in development, an additional ten new locations were announced to include Burnaby, Chilliwack, Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Quesnel, Sooke-Westshore, South Surrey, Vancouver, Vanderhoof, and the West Kootenays.
Last year, over 16,000 youth accessed a Foundry centre to receive free health and wellness services. Youth can access mental health, substance use, physical heath, counselling, peer support, employment, housing, life skills – all in one welcoming place, with walk-in availability.
In 2015, with funding from donors to St. Paul’s Foundation, Foundry opened as the very first centre in North America to offer integrated youth services in a purpose-built space.
Because of your generosity, Foundry has grown from its prototype centre in Vancouver to a world-renowned collaborative network of 35 locations across BC, plus provincial virtual services including the Foundry BC app.
Feast of Fortune gala raises a record-breaking $5.52 million for the new St. Paul’s Clinical Support and Research Centre
The 17th annual Scotiabank Feast of Fortune welcomed 420 prominent guests from the Greater Vancouver philanthropic and corporate community. Hosted by St. Paul’s Foundation, the event raised $5.52 million, with proceeds supporting the Clinical Support and Research Centre (CSRC) at the new St. Paul’s Hospital on the Jim Pattison Medical Campus.
This year’s remarkable success is a testament to the incredible generosity and commitment of all our donors and corporate sponsors. Notable transformative gifts included $2.5 million from the Djavad Mowafaghian Foundation and $2 million from the Chan Better World Foundation, both of which are instrumental in propelling our mission forward. These contributions, alongside the support of many other valued partners, are pivotal in shaping the future of health care for British Columbians.
The funds raised will fuel the advancement of research and innovation within the state-of-the-art CSRC, which will be seamlessly connected to the new St. Paul’s Hospital by a sky bridge. As the first fully integrated advanced clinical research facility in BC, the CSRC will feature leading-edge phase 1-3 clinical trials, wet labs, networked biobanks, analytic data centers, and specialized training environments.
First Road to Recovery beds open at St. Paul’s Hospital
In September 2023, St. Paul’s Hospital launched a first-in-Canada model of care that supports patients to move through a full spectrum of treatment services in one location.
This model of care cuts weeks off waitlists and supports patients to move seamlessly through a full spectrum of treatment services, such as the Rapid Access Addiction Clinic, withdrawal management, in-patient recovery-focused beds, transitional housing, outpatient treatment, and more – all in one location.
Through every step, clients receive support from someone who can connect them to community after-care resources such as day programs, life-skills classes, and peer-recovery groups to help them stay on their path to wellness after treatment.
Already over 400 people have received life-saving treatment since the program launched last fall.
Pioneering new surgery techniques for breast cancer
Your support made it possible for the Breast Centre Seed Localization Program (BCSLP) at Mount St. Joseph’s Providence Breast Centre to pioneer a new surgery technique that has transformed breast cancer treatment.
The BCSLP uses a method where the radiologist inserts a tiny, magnetic seed with the guidance of a small needle during a mammogram or ultrasound. Unlike a wire, which needs to be placed in the patient the day of the surgery, the seed can be put in place up to 30 days before the surgery, streamlining the process significantly.
The procedure is easy and painless for patients compared to the painful and uncomfortable wire procedure. Before this technology, radiologists could only perform five wire insertions a day. But, with the seeds, there are no limitations on the number of localization procedures that can happen in a day. During the 2 year pilot program, BCSLP performed 2,064 surgeries.
Leadership message
From Glenn and Sheila
Building a healthier future for BC, thanks to you!
We see the impact of your support every day in the lives of patients and residents throughout Providence Health Care and across BC. Because of you, we can meet essential needs, support leading edge research, and enhance the lives of patients, residents, and staff throughout BC.
This year your support helped us reach several exciting milestones. Construction of the new St. Paul’s Hospital on the Jim Pattison Medical Campus reached its full height of 11 stories, bringing us three years away from opening the most state-of-the-art medical campus in Western Canada. We were thrilled to welcome residents to our new long-term care village in Comox, BC, the first publicly funded dementia care village in Canada that was kickstarted with donor support.
And we received the thrilling news that the Clinical Support and Research Centre on the new St. Paul’s medical campus will break ground early next year, a space to unlock medical discoveries that will offer hope to patients in need.
This is only a snapshot of what you have made possible this past year, and none of it would be achievable without your steadfast support. From all of us, thank you!
Glenn Ives, Sheila Biggers,
Board Chair President and CEO
St. Paul’s Foundation St. Paul’s Foundation
Thank you
Your gifts make a profound and lasting difference to every patient, resident, family, and caregiver. We are grateful for your trust and generosity.