2025: A Year-End Reflection
From the Desk of Avery Brohman, Foundation CEO
December 29, 2025 – As I reflect on 2025, I do so with great admiration and intention. This year, we felt the strength of our community collaborating to elevate local care in a profound way—not a day went by without me hearing personally from a caregiver, patient, donor or volunteer the positive impact our It’s Time campaign was having on the health of our community and that felt incredibly energizing and empowering.
Reflecting on this past year offers a great sense of pride, and for me especially, I am grateful for the trust you place in us to deliver new advancements and technologies for our hospitals—together with our donors, we have made them stronger.
Over the last 24 months, healthcare innovation has been at the forefront of our work. We completed the first phase of our campaign, It’s Time for Surgical Innovation, raising an impressive $17 million, which brought a first-in-Victoria surgical robot to Royal Jubilee Hospital (RJH) along with over 50 pieces of specialized equipment across both RJH and Victoria General Hospital (VGH) that our surgical teams asked us for. Working with them directly, and closely, has showed us the power of collaboration, enabling excellent care right here at home.
I will remember 2025 as the year so many patients who received a robotic surgery called our office to simply say, thank you. Local patients were aware it was philanthropy that elevated their care, and that’s incredibly special.
Our care teams, and surgeons in particular, had a newfound energy. Many went “back to school” to learn the ropes of robotic surgery. Imagine being able to take on new learnings as an established physician, engaging experts across the globe, training at the best hospitals in North America, and bringing back new knowledge to the Island. Just last week, I enjoyed a holiday dinner with Dr. Mona Mazgani who was contemplating the city she would be travelling to in the new year as she trains on the da Vinci robot and takes women’s health to a new level. Our second phase, and our $21 million campaign: It’s Time for Surgical Evolution, has been a game changer for women’s health and how surgery is performed, which has been rewarding for me personally to be part of a local women’s health movement.
Offering a second surgical robot to Island Health, ensuring VGH has equitable access to transformational technology just as RJH does, feels highly rewarding. I am so proud to announce we have reached the $11 million campaign milestone.
Over the course of the year, we leaned into and learned from our impassioned surgical teams that advancing minimally invasive surgeries could change care journeys altogether, especially for cancer patients. The benefits were obvious: to patients, to surgeons and their nursing teams, and to the healthcare system as a whole. We believed we could be leaders in surgical care in Western Canada and we brought forward a neurosurgical robotics system in addition to the second da Vinci robot, embodying a true robotics hub here on Vancouver Island. Our goal to position our hospitals as leaders in Western Canada did indeed become a reality, with many surgeons stating we are now in fact leaders across Canada.
In order to be a leader, you need to surround yourself with leaders. I am proud to report that in 2025, local leaders came forward in a powerful way:
- 4,963 donors and counting have supported our local hospitals
- 3,359 donors, and counting, have contributed to the It’s Time campaign
- 158 volunteers have donated their time and talent to our mission
This impact translated to:
- 5 new surgeons recruited to work at VGH and RJH, drawn to the state-of-the-art equipment we have in our centres
- 337 robotic surgeries performed to date
- Hundreds of care teams engaged in new and specialized training
- Over 50 pieces of precision-enhanced oncology equipment funded
The impact didn’t stop here. We engaged in countless tours behind the scenes at RJH and VGH to see the impact of our philanthropy in all areas of care. From pediatrics to cardiac, and medical imaging to renal, the impact of giving in 2025 spanned all areas of care.
Our volunteer spokespeople helped guide the way. Learning from Davita Miles and Gerald Kersten about their care journey, reminded us how important it is to ensure our care teams have the resources they need to do their best work.
Our volunteer Steering Committees for both our Miracle and Visions galas reached new heights this year, with both galas raising record-breaking totals. Amy Ratcliff’s undeniable leadership rallied the Westshore community to raise $1.76 million for women’s health, and the inspiring leadership of Charlotte Salomon, KC encouraged a remarkable $3.65 million for surgical innovation. Both women and their volunteer committees worked incredibly hard for our hospitals and the patients who need them.
Volunteerism has never felt so strong; our Gala Committees, Annual Uplands Heart Tournament Committee, and our Strategic Giving Cabinets are the beating heart of so much innovation and pride that surround our hospitals. I am so proud to report that over 2,055 volunteer hours were completed in 2025 to support these community-focused events—and many more volunteers supported our work by joining us at our office.
Our volunteer Board of Directors is committed to having the Foundation be a leading charity on Vancouver Island with ambitious goals that translate to incredible impact. This year, I especially thank our Chair, Joan Yates, for her leadership.
The team members I work alongside of are undeniably loyal to our mission, care deeply about the hospital teams we support, and view every single relationship we have with each of you as unique and treasured.
On that note, I end my reflection with a heartfelt offering of thanks to the caregivers who work in our hospitals. As someone who is on the receiving end of so much good, there is not a day that goes by where I don’t see the impact our care teams have on the health of our community. It is such an honour to support them in their work and help them achieve their goals through our donor-led Heather A. Simpson Scholarship initiative, the research grants we award, caregiver recognition efforts, and the equipment we proudly place in their hands across every single area of care at both VGH and RJH.
At the Victoria Hospitals Foundation, we elevate and celebrate at every opportunity, a value of ours that is only made possible because of community support. It’s not too late to offer a gift this year. Whether you donate towards our surgical campaign; make a gift in tribute of a loved one; honour a caregiver or care received through our Caring Spirit program; choose to make a monthly contribution, make a gift of securities, or leave a legacy gift in your will: every gift makes a difference. Thank you for being here and believing in our work.
As I turn my attention to the new year ahead, I am grateful for the strong start we’ve been gifted through a $7.5 million matching gift. We’ve been able to unlock $5.5 million of it, and with your support, we can go even further.
In gratitude and good health,
Avery Brohman
CEO, Victoria Hospitals Foundation
