Doctors donate millions to help build their own hospital

There’s an old saying that a leader without followers is just someone out for a walk. We are truly fortunate that our leaders have inspired so many to join them on the journey to the new St. Paul’s Hospital.

In 2018, we asked our staff to imagine the future at the new St. Paul’s Hospital on the Jim Pattison Medical Campus. We invited them to picture themselves and their patients in a state-of-the-art hospital engineered from the ground up for healing, teaching, and innovating. Then we asked them to help us build it.

Dr. Martin Trotter was the first to donate. The former head of pathology and laboratory medicine said, “Although I’ll be retired when the new St. Paul’s Hospital opens, I want to help us transition to a new model of care where our patients are treated like important guests.”

Others were quickly inspired to follow his lead. Our radiologists stepped forward with $1 million. The anesthesiology department set a new high-water mark with a $1.25 million gift. The momentum continued with donations from our cardiac surgeons, the departments of medicine and surgery, the emergency department, and so many others. Together, they reached into their own pockets and donated more than $6.5 million to secure the future of health care at the new St. Paul’s Hospital.

It’s a remarkable achievement unparalleled in Canadian health care history. But of course, this is St. Paul’s: being on the vanguard of remarkable achievements is what we do.

Now, they’re challenging the rest of the medical staff at Providence Health Care with an audacious goal of 80% participation in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In the words of cardiac surgeon Dr. Jamil Bashir, “This hospital is part of our community. It’s where we ourselves come for care. We need to support that.”

To everyone who has given (or is about to give): thank you! Your gifts will transform the future of health care for you, your patients, and the people of British Columbia.

In 2027, we will stand together on the threshold of the new St. Paul’s Hospital. And we will complete a mission that’s so much bigger than the move from Burrard Street to Station Street. It’s the journey from the past to the future.

Thank you to all of our staff giving campaign donors and supporters to date:

Department of Anesthesiology – $1.25M
Radiologists of St. Paul’s Hospital – $1M
Emergency Department Physicians – $1M
Department of Medicine Physicians – $1M
Department of Surgery – $1M
St. Paul’s Hospital Cardiac Surgeons – $300K

Dr. Ron Carere
Dr. Andy Ignaszewski
Dr. Bobby Lee
Dr. Chantal Leger
Dr. Jonathon Leipsic
Astrid Levelt
Dr. Sam Lichtenstein
Dr. Darra Murphy
Dr. Tracy Scott
Dr. Martin Trotter