65_RedRoses returns for 10 year anniversary screening
On September 8, join us for a special screening of 65_RedRoses in support of the Transplant Research Foundation of BC.
Eva Markvoort was only 25 years old when she lost her life after a battle with cystic fibrosis.
But in her short time with us, she left behind a legacy that has bolstered transplant research and care, advanced awareness of cystic fibrosis, and ultimately helped save countless more lives.
Her journey was documented through the film 65_RedRoses; a personal, first-hand look inside the life and mind of Eva as she waits for a double lung transplant from VGH’s Dr. John Yee.
“Eva knew she was living on borrowed time,” says Director Philip Lyall. “So she expanded time. Every day was a week to her. She had such a wise and mature outlook, and made mefeel like I want to live life to the fullest.”
Director Philip Lyall met Eva as a theatre student when they were both attending the University of Victoria.
He would later attend film school at UBC where he met fellow Director/Producer Nimisha Mukerji. The two who would go on to lead the creation of this film, following Eva as she awaits her surgery.
Ultimately, Eva would receive a double lung transplant at VGH which performs 50% of all organ transplants in the province, and is the only hospital capable of lung transplants.
After the film’s release in 2009, BC Transplant credited it to helping triple organ donation rates in the province. It premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival where it won 3 awards, including the Audience Award for Most Popular Canadian Film. It went on to be premiered and featured in Oprah’s Documentary Club.
“We were so young when we dove in to this,” says Philip. “We were 24, 25 years old, and looking back, we didn’t really take in how big it was…until we met Oprah. But now the movie has inspired so many people, still to this day, and is still being shown across the world. I wish Eva could have seen this.
A special anniversary screening of the film marks 10 years since 65_RedRoses premiered to audiences. The film will be played at the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre on Sunday, September 8 at 7 PM. In addition to the screening, guests will be treated to a special musical performance and inspirational speakers.
Tickets are available now at www.65redroses.com with all money raised going to the Transplant Research Foundation of BC, a partner of VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation.
Eva Markvoort, photos taken at the time of filming.
Why are heart attacks happening to healthy young women?
One morning in November 2012, Birte Hunter was out for a jog with her dogs. Halfway through her run, Birte felt a tightening in her back and a pain in her chest.
“I had a dog on each arm, and suddenly it felt like there was a knot in the middle of my back, and then that knot went right from the middle of my back into my heart,” says Birte. “I stopped running, thinking, Oh my gosh, I think I’m having a heart attack.”
Birte managed to walk back home and call an ambulance. She was taken to a hospital where she received an angiogram and was told her heart muscles were likely weakened from a virus she caught abroad. She was then sent home.
At this moment, Birte became another healthy woman with a misdiagnosed heart problem.
Answering questions of the heart
At VGH, Dr. Jacqueline Saw is researching Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD) — a rare heart condition that primarily affects women under 50. Dr. Saw was studying case files of women who had experienced heart issues when she opened Birte’s file. After reading the report, she suspected Birte didn’t have a virus.
Dr. Saw performed additional tests with Birte and confirmed her suspicion: Birte had SCAD.
SCAD is not fully understood and this is what drives Dr. Saw to find answers.
Through her years of research, Dr. Saw’s expertise has grown, transforming her into a world leader in SCAD research, rehabilitation and treatment. Dr. Saw established the world’s first SCAD rehabilitation clinic at VGH, began a registry for SCAD patients and initiated a genetic study to collect invaluable, long-term data. Dr. Saw’s clinical research and knowledge transfer in the medical community is improving treatments and saving lives of women in BC.
SCAD rehabilitation is saving lives
Birte suffered from two more heart attacks after her first incident, each caused by a different artery in her heart. However, since she joined the SCAD rehabilitation clinic in February 2018, Birte has not experienced any recurrences.
“I’m so blessed that the SCAD head honcho in the world is here in Vancouver and is my doctor,” says Birte. “How lucky am I?”
Support Dr. Jacqueline Saw’s vital research and world-leading clinic at VGH to directly impact care for women just like Birte. Please donate
Leading the way to better mental health
Mental illness affects thousands of people across BC. It can happen to anyone at any time, and has devastating impacts – on people, families, the workforce and communities. Tragically, it is a disease largely shrouded in stigma and misunderstanding.
This is why we are so grateful to Coast Capital Savings Credit Union. Since 2002, Coast Capital has raised over $2.8 million for mental health research, including ten research projects ranging from brain imaging and genetic-based studies on mood disorders, to the evaluation of new psychological treatments for depression.
Coast Capital has been a long-term partner and advocate for mental health. Coast Capital leaders have mobilized awareness and engaged the business community in a dialogue about the impact of mental illness on the workforce and the economy. “One in five Canadians will personally experience a mental illness in their lifetime,” says Don Coulter, President & CEO, Coast Capital Savings Credit Union. “With those numbers, it is safe to say that mental illness touches all of us in some way.”
“Corporate donations, like this one from Coast Capital, are essential to funding mental health research,” notes Barbara Grantham, President & CEO of VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation. “When companies make philanthropic investments, they have the power to advance health care in BC.”
The efforts of Coast Capital Savings have profoundly impacted ongoing work at VGH and UBC Hospital, offering hope and healing to people across BC suffering from mental illness.
Learn more about the Coast Capital Savings’ annual Golf Tournament
VGH and UBC doctors offer humanitarian care worldwide
When your donations are used to invest in local physicians, the impact can be felt world wide. On World Humanitarian Day, we highlighted three Vancouver physicians who are helping communities around the world.
Dr. Dianne Miller, Gynecologic Oncologist at VGH
Meaningful cancer care in Uganda
Since 2001, Dr. Dianne Miller, Gynecologic Oncologist at VGH and co-founder of OVCARE, has been involved in humanitarian missions to Uganda.
It began when a colleague asked for her gynecologic-oncology expertise in a new program they were establishing in Kampala through a sister school, Makerere University.
What Dr. Miller learned when she arrived would change the next 18 years of her life.
“The need is overwhelming because in the developing world there’s no meaningful cervical cancer screening, and given that, there’s an incredible high-incidence of cervical cancer and HPV-related cancers,” says Dr. Miller.
In addition, there is a very large and poor population who don’t have the resources for treatment, and the local physicians did not have the skill set necessary to deal with their growing gynecological cancer issues, according to Dr. Miller.
“This was through no fault of their own,” says Dr. Miller. “The reality is they did not have the resources to learn what they needed.”
Building from the ground up
Throughout the years Dr. Miller has worked to change this. She helped establish a functioning hospital with local physicians, trained through an established program utilizing her and other world-leading physicians’ knowledge and skills.
“It’s now maturing, and a number of other physicians from around the world are going to use the operating room that we built and furnished, and are involved in training a couple of local Ugandan physicians,” says Dr. Miller.
Training local physicians
Dr. Hamed Umedaly, Head, Department of Anesthesiology at VGH and UBC Hospital, has been part of this same project in Uganda for 15 years.
When he arrived, there were nine anesthesiologists for the entire country. Eight trips later, he has helped train 31 new anesthesiologists, bringing their total to 40.
“Our goal is to make it so eventually the anesthesiologists can sustain the education and clinical work,” says Dr. Umedaly. “So while we can bring over biomedical engineering to meet technological needs, this technology comes to a grinding halt without the expertise behind it. We know sharing knowledge and building capacity will lead to sustainability.”
Trauma care in the Congo
Dr. Emilie Joos, Trauma Surgeon at VGH, credits her humanitarian ideology as the reason she got interested in medicine.
She took her first mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo through Médecins Sans Frontières International in September 2015, a year after finishing her surgical training.
Dr. Emilie Joos, Trauma Surgeon at VGH
“It was a very difficult job,” says Dr. Joos. “I was on-call 24/7 in a town close to Rwanda, cut off from the rest of the world.”
She recalls long days and nights, often performing 30 to 40 surgeries a day and treating a variety of wounds including gunshots, cuts, burns, fractures, infections, and more. Yet despite the intensity of the program, Dr. Joos felt invigorated by the experience.
“It was incredibly rewarding,” she says. “I was treating real injuries, and these people were incredibly grateful because they don’t have the kind of care we are privileged to in Canada.”
In addition, Dr. Joos helped train local doctors in several surgical procedures, offering her knowledge as a way to continue her care long after she’s gone.
This educational approach would inform Dr. Joos’ next step — establishing a formal training program to teach local physicians how to perform surgeries and create sustainability.
Beyond borders
“There are so many people that are involved in a developing world project,” says Dr. Miller. “Almost every department has something going on. And hopefully it will make a difference in the long run.”
“It’s highly rewarding to go to these places that need our help and work to make change,” says Dr. Umedaly.
Dr. Joos couldn’t agree more.
“That’s the reason I went to medical school,” says Dr. Joos. “I always wanted to be helpful, in general. I always thought our bigger purpose in life was to help others. Being a doctor is one thing, but being a doctor and treating a lot of people that really need it the most is something else.”
Geriatric health — caring with heart and hand
The Meyn family (left to right): Carmen, Gisela, Andy, and Andrea.
As BC’s elderly population increases dramatically, so does the need to ensure access to high-quality holistic health care for our aging parents and grandparents.
Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) is a leader in geriatric medicine. Over the last decade, VCH has established specialized programs and services across the continuum of care for seniors.
The 21-bed Dementia Care Unit was established in 2017 to ensure Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) is well equipped to meet the needs and complexities of patients and families grappling with dementia. It is staffed by an interdisciplinary team of specialist physicians as well as specially trained nurses, social workers, therapists, pharmacists, dieticians and volunteers.
“Caring for patients with dementia is unique,” says Angela, a licensed practical nurse who works on the Dementia Care Unit. “New environments and new people can often cause confusion in patients with dementia and they can become agitated or aggressive. I find it’s best to remain calm and provide them with enough time to adjust to their new surroundings.”
Together, the staff collaborate to provide coordinated care for patients with dementia while they are in hospital and if they transition back to the community.
“For seniors, care continuity is especially important to avoid unintended complications and barriers to them resuming life at home.”
Dementia care at VGH — Andy’s journey
For the Meyn family, having access to the Dementia Care Unit at VGH was a huge relief. Andy Meyn, Carmen and Angela’s dad, was beginning to display symptoms of dementia at home. It was becoming difficult for his wife Gisela to care for him on her own.
“I wasn’t sleeping very well because I was always worried about Andy getting up in the middle of the night,” says Gisela. “He would start frying pork chops or boiling eggs at three in the morning. A few times I would wake up to a house full of smoke because he had left the stove on.”
Then one night Andy sat down for dinner but couldn’t eat. “He was very confused. He couldn’t eat, he couldn’t stand and he couldn’t tell us what was wrong. It happened very fast,” says Gisela. “My daughter and her friend came over to help but the three of us couldn’t get him up. We had no choice but to call an ambulance and bring him to VGH.”
Andy had pneumonia which kept him in the Dementia Care Unit for two months. He and his family benefited from access to specially trained staff who cared for his cognitive wellness while treating his medical issues.
“For my dad, some days are better than others, but we do not know where we would be if it weren’t for the team at VGH,” says daughter, Carmen. “It’s such a relief to see the staff take care of my dad’s physical struggles as well as his mental struggles.”
“They even helped us plan our next steps for when Dad was discharged from the hospital. We are so lucky to have access to this level of care.”
Recreation as a pathway to recovery
A critical factor in the recovery of patients on the Dementia Care Unit is decreasing their isolation and increasing social stimulation. Rehabilitation Assistant Koren helps encourage social stimulation by hosting a variety of daily and weekly recreational activities for patients. But there is a need for more funding and resources.
“We want to expand and develop our recreational activities on the unit because it will enable us to use different approaches to engage patients to support their cognitive wellbeing. We hope to increase the variety of one-on-one and group activities we offer to include music therapy, memory games, tea parties and exercise classes,” says Koren.
Part of this expansion includes the development of a purpose-built space, so patients can engage in activities that helps improve their mobility, communication and ability to complete daily tasks. Having the space and resources available will help us explore what works best for each patient and will provide a better transition for the patient moving into their next care setting.
Please make a donation today to help support specialized care for senior patients with dementia and other cognitive or mental health issues.
Aubrie’s Story
More than $310K raised for health innovation in BC
Innovators’ Challenge
Liquid skin for wound and burn healing. New technologies for early cancer detection and improving cancer surgery outcomes. A mobile app for emergency department patient management. These are all health care innovations in development across Vancouver Coastal Health.
Thanks to the first ever Innovators’ Challenge event, an amazing $311,394 was raised to support these creative solutions which have the potential to transform health care in BC and beyond.
On April 9, Dr. Aziz Ghahary, Dr. Don Anderson, Dr. Haishan Zeng and Dr. Kendall Ho pitched their research projects to an audience of innovators and entrepreneurs from across the health, wealth and technology sectors. Dr. Ghahary’s liquid skin (MeshFill) was awarded the $25,000 Bradshaw Prize following an audience vote and all four projects received donations to support their progression.
L to R: Innovative research presenters Dr. Haishan Zeng, Dr. Don Anderson, Dr. Aziz Ghahary, and Dr. Kendall Ho
The event was initiated by VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute – who provided a shortlist of projects for the event. An advisory committee from the health and innovation sectors selected the projects for the event. Criteria for selection included the potential for savings to healthcare system, greater patient impact and commercialization potential.
2018 Lifetime Achievement in Health Innovation Award: Dr Donald Ricci
The new Lifetime Achievement in Health Innovation Award, presented by VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation, recognizes the exceptional capabilities, achievements and leadership of an individual from the medical device, biotech, diagnostics and/or health care industries. The inaugural winner was selected by the Innovators’ Challenge Advisory Committee following review of all nominations.
Congratulations to the 2018 Lifetime Achievement in Health Innovation Award winner, Dr. Donald Ricci.
For the Love of Viraj
Behind the scenes with Dr David Wood
Dr David Wood was inspired by his grandfather’s heart disease to become a cardiologist.
As a passionate interventional and structural cardiologist at Vancouver General Hospital, Dr David Wood is transforming the way we treat heart disease with the revolutionary Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) — see front cover for the full story.
Where did you grow up?
Vancouver.
Why are you so passionate about cardiology?
I have always been fascinated by the cardiovascular system. My grandfather suffered from heart disease and thus it was natural for it to become a passion when I began studying medicine.
What do you find most challenging about your job?
Balancing clinical, research and personal commitments.
Who or what inspires you?
My patients on a daily basis.
If you had to pick one last meal before you die, what would that be?
Dinner with family and friends.