Past Campaign: Beneath the Surface

Every day, more than 100 ultrasounds are performed at Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals.

Relatively simple, non-invasive and radiation-free, they allow clinicians to go beneath the surface and see what is happening inside a patient’s body. The detailed, high-definition images captured provide a wealth of information, including the structure and composition of internal organs, tissues and vessels. Quite often, it is these very images that help our care teams understand the nature of a patient’s symptoms, give answers and provide treatment options.

Today, the Victoria Hospitals Foundation is asking the community to help raise $500,000 for seven new point-of-care ultrasounds for seven specialized areas of Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals.

The seven new ultrasound machines will benefit thousands of patients in:

  • Emergency
  • Endoscopy
  • Intensive Care Unit
  • Gynecology Surgery
  • Maternity
  • Medical Imaging
  • Vascular Surgery

The new machines are critically needed to ensure our care teams are equipped with the tools they need to do their best work. Thanks to innovation in technology, they produce higher-definition images that increase diagnostic capacity, and therefore allow for faster treatment. Smaller and more portable, they can now also be used at a patient’s bedside, allowing clinicians to provide the best care while minimizing patient discomfort. It’s about bringing the care to the patient, rather than the patient to the care.

A gift to this campaign will mean so much to so many, including the care teams and the patients they serve.

Click on each icon to read real patient stories and learn about the equipment.

Stories

I live in England and will never forget my time on Vancouver Island. Not because it was a once-in-a-lifetime trip, but because I am alive today to tell this story, my story, thanks to the remarkable care I received.

Vancouver Island has always been on my bucketlist. For many years, I wanted to experience its rugged beaches, ancient rainforest and remote coastal communities. With my children about to leave the nest, my husband Philip and I knew it was time to take one last trip as a family. We travelled with our son Alex and daughter Sian from England to the beautiful West Coast last summer.

We made our way to the carefree surf town of Tofino when a sudden pain in my back halted our plans. I am a manager at a hospital, so I knew instantly that something was wrong.

My husband called an ambulance, and in the few short minutes it took them to arrive, I became paralyzed. I remember thinking, I am a healthy 50-year-old woman with no medical history, what is happening to me? Am I going to walk again? Does Vancouver Island have a good medical system? What about my husband and my kids?

I was taken to Tofino General Hospital, where a remarkable doctor explained the situation. He said Victoria General Hospital was a leader in comprehensive neurological care, and I was transported by helicopter right away.

I spent six days at Victoria General Hospital. After many tests and treatment, I was starting to feel better when I suddenly went into cardiac arrest. I was apparently lifeless for 45 minutes. Forty-five minutes of no heartbeat. Forty-five minutes of no oxygen to my brain. I died. And I came back to life. Three times. 

I was told that Dr. Porayko and his team performed CPR, chest compressions and intubation to keep me alive. They manually maintained my heartbeat for 45 minutes until they identified the cause of the issue with an ultrasound: a clot in my lung was limiting blood flow to my heart.

Without an ultrasound, they may not have found the clot and given me the treatment I needed for my heart to beat on its own again. Without the ultrasound, who knows if I would be here today. 

While I couldn’t experience all that Vancouver Island has to offer, I left with incredible respect and admiration for its people and the healthcare you have access to. Victoria General Hospital and its caregivers, especially those in the Intensive Care Unit, made me feel grateful for life. I will never again take it for granted.

I encourage you to take a moment to recognize the comprehensive care you are lucky to have close to home. When I learned that 40% of equipment in your Victoria hospitals is funded by the community, I was amazed and inspired. If you can, I invite you to consider making a donation to help equip your hospitals so that more people can benefit from the very care that saved my life.

Having leading-edge equipment really does make all the difference.

Helen Glyn-Davis

We are 2 of 11 specially-trained physicians who work in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals. Our patients are in the most critical condition: they can be stable one minute and in medical distress the next – we just never know what to expect, or when to expect it.

We provide our patients with one-to-one medical attention as they are at higher risk of going into cardiac arrest. When this happens, we must act quickly because chances of survival decrease by up to 10% every minute. For this reason, our team of nurses, therapists, pharmacists and intensivists is specially trained to quickly interpret information using our combined expertise and advanced medical equipment.

When time is of the essence, the better the equipment, the better the chances of survival. 

Ultrasound scans are our eyes beneath the surface. They allow us to identify many complications, from brain swelling and fractures, to punctured lungs and internal bleeding. We also depend on the ultrasound machines during treatment, which happens at the bedside in the ICU.

For our team, a new ultrasound for the ICU will be a game changer. It is more powerful, more user friendly and more durable. It turns on immediately, and conducts measurements automatically. Most importantly, the new ultrasound machine shows clearer, more detailed images, allowing us to make quicker and more informed decisions. And when every minute matters, every second, every detail counts.

Today, we share with you the journey of former patient Helen who suffered a cardiac arrest at Victoria General Hospital. Luckily, we had an ultrasound machine in her ICU room, which we used to scan her chest, and we immediately identified a clot that was moving from her lung towards her heart. She was suffering from a massive pulmonary embolism, meaning a blockage in her artery was stopping blood from moving as it should.

From the ultrasound images, we knew exactly what to do. Within moments, we administered tPA, a clot-busting substance that can dissolve a blockage and improve blood flow if it is done at the right time and in the right place. And it was – thanks to the ultrasound.

The new machine we need will serve patients in the ICU of Royal Jubilee Hospital. We invite you to read Helen’s story and see for yourself how much of a difference an ultrasound can make. Please consider helping us raise funds for new ultrasound machines so that we can continue to save lives.

Dr. McIntyre and Dr. Porayko
Intensivists

Island Health

Last summer, Victoria General Hospital became a bittersweet place for our family: it was where our first child Weston was born and where a short six weeks later I was diagnosed with a cancerous mass.

As a brand-new mother with a newborn baby, this was a terrifying time. One moment I was breastfeeding my sweet little boy and the next I was crawling on his bedroom floor, barely able to breathe. Shortly after his birth, I experienced pain in my right side which I attributed to the C-section. By that night, it had become unbearable.

My husband Bjorn drove me to the Emergency Department at Victoria General Hospital, where I was seen right away by doctors and nurses. The care team conducted an ultrasound on my abdomen and found the sources of my pain: kidney stones, thickening of my gallbladder and ― more worrisome ― a 2 cm by 3 cm tumour lodged between my stomach and my pancreas.

The news horrified me. What if I had pancreatic cancer? My mom had cancer. Should I have known I would get it too? How would my son grow up without a mom? How could I leave my husband behind to raise our child alone?

Thankfully, the care team at Victoria General Hospital had the next steps planned out for me. They conducted an endoscopic ultrasound to determine the exact location of the mass. By inserting a small, flexible tube equipped with a camera through my esophagus, they found it was located in a very tricky spot. Surgery was the only option. Due to the nature of the tumour, I went into the operating room not knowing if I would lose half my stomach, if it was cancerous or if it had already spread to other organs.

Using the images conducted by the two ultrasounds, the surgeon removed the mass through a small incision made in my abdomen without needing a more complex open surgery. Miraculously, I was at home recovering with my family and holding my baby within a couple of days.

Thankfully, test results found that the tumour was a very low grade cancer, meaning the cells could have spread had it not been found early on. For that, I thank my son Weston ― whom I now call my miracle baby ― and the many caregivers at Victoria General Hospital who treated me and helped me on this journey.

Today, I am in full remission and getting ready to celebrate Weston’s first steps.

This whole experience made me realize the importance of medical equipment, especially ultrasound technology. Speaking personally, I may not have been here in a couple of years had the ultrasound not caught the mass. Leading-edge equipment combined with highly skilled professionals really does make a difference.

With gratitude for life with my son and husband,

Jill Taiji

Ultrasounds have become the modern stethoscopes. Physicians and technicians use them every day, in every area of care, to go beneath the surface and increase our understanding of a patient’s internal organs, tissues and vessels.

As a radiologist, I view images to diagnose and treat patients. Every year, my colleagues and I interpret more than 275,000 medical imaging procedures performed at Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals ― that means more than 750 a day. We use a variety of imaging techniques, including X-Ray, CT, and MRI, but ultrasounds are by far one of the most versatile and safer forms of medical imaging available in our hospitals.

By means of sound waves, ultrasound technology produces live diagnostic images. It is a powerful tool that allows us to assess a wide range of symptoms and issues, including pain, blood clots and abnormal growths. An ultrasound is a safe, non-invasive and radiation-free test that helps physicians quickly assess internal conditions that might otherwise go undetected until they reach a more severe stage.

Quite often, it is the detailed, high-resolution ultrasound images that help us understand the nature of a patient’s symptoms, give answers and provide treatment options. This makes ultrasound technology a critical cornerstone of medicine and patient care.

For that reason, I am so grateful to be working with the Victoria Hospitals Foundation to help raise funds for point-of-care ultrasound machines for Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals. This equipment will allow my colleagues and I to do our best work and give our patients the highest quality of care.

Over the years, I have seen incredible improvements in ultrasound technology. Ultrasound images now have better resolution and 3D capability. These advances and the new equipment funded through this campaign will allow us to continue to bring the best possible care to our patients on Vancouver Island.

I have included the remarkable story of a new mom, Jill. Today, she survived cancer thanks to our medical teams and the advanced ultrasound technology that donors like you have helped to provide.

Thank you,

Dr. Melina Warren
Radiologist
Island Health

Longstanding Port Alberni resident Dorothy King is one of hundreds of patients across Vancouver Island who has benefited from endoscopic ultrasound technology at Victoria General Hospital. After three weeks of excruciating abdominal pain and rapidly losing 15 pounds, Dorothy became worried about her symptoms and visited West Coast General Hospital in Port Alberni for an assessment. A CT scan revealed the possibility of a gallstone blocking her bile duct, a condition that, if left untreated, can cause life-threatening illnesses. The doctors in Port Alberni immediately arranged for Dorothy to be transported to Victoria General Hospital, one of Vancouver Island’s regional resource for endoscopic procedures, where she was diagnosed and treated by Dr. Andrew Singh.

Over Dr. Singh’s 18-year career as a gastroenterologist, he has witnessed first-hand the positive effect that ultrasound technology has on a patient’s diagnosis and treatment. Dr. Singh specializes in therapeutic endoscopy and inflammatory bowel disease, and is one of three doctors on Vancouver Island who perform radial endoscopic ultrasounds. Recent advances in radial ultrasound technology have improved diagnostic abilities in the gastrointestinal tract and surrounding structures, reducing the need for imaging techniques that are more time-consuming, expensive and invasive. Radial ultrasound endoscopes are used to diagnose, stage and monitor various cancers, tumours and other abnormalities within the gastrointestinal tract — so patients have answers sooner, and peace of mind.

For Dr. Singh and his team, ultrasound technology is a vital tool to quickly identify and treat cancer and other gastrointestinal illnesses. Dr. Singh performed an endoscopic retrograde cholangio pancreatography (ERCP) on Dorothy under conscious sedation and a stent was successfully placed to bypass the gallstone. After her outpatient procedure, Dorothy returned to Port Alberni where she was able to recover comfortably in her own home. Dr. Singh explains the importance of endoscopic ultrasound machines in his practice, noting “a lot of procedures can be done by therapeutic ultrasound and require less recovery time than surgery because they are minimally invasive.” In the last decade, technological advancements have made ultrasound imaging faster, more detailed and more precise, allowing physicians to quickly assess conditions that might otherwise go undetected until they reach a more severe stage.

Dorothy is grateful for how quickly she was able to return home after receiving treatment. “The gastroscopic ultrasound machine at Victoria General Hospital is truly a regional resource,” says Dr. Singh. “We use endoscopic ultrasounds to diagnose and treat 300 to 350 patients per year across Vancouver Island, and our numbers keep on increasing.”

For Dorothy, donating is about supporting the medical team that cared for her and investing in healthier communities. “One never knows when one is going to be needing the services of a hospital,” says Dorothy. “It’s like giving blood. You want to be able to do that because you never know if you’re going to be having a transfusion someday.”

So more people can benefit from the same high-quality care as Dorothy, please make a donation towards the Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s Campaign for Ultrasound Technology.

Ultrasound Technology: A window into intrauterine life

After five years of gut-wrenching pregnancy losses, Victoria resident Debbie Balino and her family were overwhelmed with feelings of grief, frustration and hopelessness. For Debbie, nine devastating miscarriages, four of them in the second trimester, caused her to associate pregnancy with anxiety and uncertainty. With the help of an incredible team of doctors equipped with ultrasound technology at Victoria General Hospital (VGH), Debbie was able to closely monitor the pregnancy, giving her peace of mind and the opportunity to connect with the baby before delivery.

Debbie was one of hundreds of expecting mothers who receive care each year at VGH. Ultrasound machines are used regularly in the Antenatal Assessment Unit on women with high-risk pregnancies to assess the fetus’ breathing, movement, muscle tone and amniotic fluid. Over 4,000 fetal non-stress tests are performed using ultrasound technology at VGH each year. Ultrasound images can lead to early diagnosis, improving the outcome for babies with complications.

After making the courageous decision to try for a second baby so that her daughter could grow up with a sibling, Debbie knew that her pregnancy would be high-risk, if not impossible. With the help of a close friend who generously donated her eggs, Debbie’s dream to become pregnant came true. Debbie credits regular ultrasounds for making her feel confident and comfortable throughout pregnancy, saying “ultrasounds kept me and my mind healthy.”

Dr. Hayley Bos is one of three maternal fetal medicine specialists on the island who are responsible for over 6,000 births each year, caring for expecting mothers and babies with significant medical conditions. It is recommended that every expecting mother receive at least one to two ultrasounds during pregnancy. For Dr. Bos, the emotional benefits of ultrasound technology are equally as important as the medical advantages. Not only do ultrasound machines optimize care for expecting mothers and their babies, they also provide families with the opportunity to forge a connection before birth.

For mothers with high-risk pregnancies or who have experienced miscarriages, the chance to bond with their babies and see real-time images of them is critical part of care. “If expecting mothers have concerns, we use ultrasounds as a tool to reassure them that the baby is doing well,” says Dr. Bos. “A mother can see her baby in real-time and the ultrasound machine gives us a window into intrauterine life that we would not be able to see any other way.”

Dr. Bos monitored Debbie’s pregnancy and regularly performed ultrasounds to chart the growth of the baby. Ultrasound technology not only made Debbie’s pregnancy a positive experience, it also saved her life. An ultrasound scan near the end of her pregnancy detected that the that the baby was going in and out of breech position, and the decision was made to induce at 38 weeks to avoid further complications. On June 2, 2018, the Balino’s welcomed a healthy baby boy named Isaac into their family.

Unfortunately, Debbie lost three litres of blood after the delivery, and her blood pressure fell dangerously low. Debbie was rushed to the operating room for an emergency surgery to remove the remnants of a torn placenta that was causing major blood loss. A gynecological ultrasound machine was used to guide the procedure and ensure that the rest of the placenta was removed safely. Thanks to the procedure and the use of ultrasound, Debbie is healthy, as is her baby boy.

Although Debbie’s delivery did not go as planned, she is grateful for the care she received at VGH, saying “being able to witness the first meeting of my two children was by far, the most incredible moment of my life as a mom.” The Balino family is happily adjusting to life at home as a family of four.

To date, I have had four life-saving vascular surgeries at Royal Jubilee Hospital. Although it has been a long road to recovery, I am so thankful for the care I received from the vascular surgery team. They have been with me every step of the way.

I had my first surgery over four years ago after an abnormality was detected from an ultrasound. What at first I thought was a sore muscle ended up being a serious condition that required immediate surgery. At 57 years old, I began to experience pain and numbness in my calf and foot. I play many sports and am usually very active, so I thought the pain was just a sore muscle or sciatic nerve. I visited my chiropractor and she urged me to go to the hospital because she thought the pain might be from something more serious. Luckily, I followed my chiropractor’s advice and received an ultrasound at RJH that showed I had a narrowed artery, indicating Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD).

Blood wasn’t flowing properly to my leg and foot, and if left untreated I might have lost a limb. Being diagnosed with PAD changed my life. PAD is a common circulatory problem that causes narrowed arteries, which reduces blood flow to your limbs. One of the causes of PAD is using tobacco, and I foolishly smoked. I remember sitting on the hospital bed before my most recent surgery and thinking, “Am I going to die?”

After my operation, I vowed to adopt a healthier lifestyle and to this today, I have not had a single cigarette. This year I rode 1,200 kilometres on my bike — an accomplishment that took perseverance and time. I often visit the care team in the vascular surgery unit because I know them all by name and love sharing my achievements with them. The vascular surgery team at RJH are the most amazing human beings I have ever met and I wouldn’t be here today without their incredible care.

One year later, another ultrasound on my leg revealed a bulge in my artery, which signalled again that blood was not flowing properly. Two more surgeries were required to drain the bulge in my artery and increase circulation. This May, I required another surgery in my other leg to address a similar problem.

I’ve benefitted four times from the exceptional care teams and equipment at RJH, and I want people to be thankful that we have our hospitals.

I often describe ultrasounds as the eyes to your soul. Thankfully, because of this amazing technology, I am celebrating my 28th wedding anniversary and continuing to make memories with my children. I am grateful that I am able to do the activities I enjoy such as travelling and riding my bike.

If I could share anything with the generous donors reading my story it would be: If you don’t give as a community, we don’t get as a community. Having leading-edge equipment is a vi­tal tool in our hospitals and funding a new ultrasound for our operating rooms will save lives. I know because the equipment saved mine and continues to do so.

With gratitude,
Randy White

Victoria resident Rebecca Wright has always lived an adventurous and active life. Her 13-year career as a flight attendant and her passion for motorcycle riding allowed her to travel all over the world.

On a vacation this summer in Nelson, BC, Rebecca began to feel chest pain and shortness of breath while walking up a flight of stairs. She became concerned about her symptoms; after all, she exercises regularly and has always maintained a healthy lifestyle, so these signs during activity were out of the ordinary for her. Before beginning her career as a flight attendant Rebecca was a nurse, and her medical knowledge signaled to her that something could be wrong. Rebecca checked her pulse and noticed that is was still normal, and decided to continue her trip but visit the clinic on Monday when she returned home.

Due to her previous clean bill of health, Rebecca was told at the clinic that she might have an iron deficiency and was sent for bloodwork. Throughout the following day, the pain and shortness of breath worsened, and she made arrangements for a friend to drive her to the hospital the next morning. By early Wednesday morning, Rebecca’s condition became critical and her boyfriend immediately called 911. Two ambulances arrived at her house within minutes and took her to the Emergency Department at Victoria General Hospital (VGH) where she was treated by Dr. Gavin Jones.

Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, Dr. Jones always knew he wanted to be a doctor and explore other countries. After finishing his education, he moved to Regina, Saskatchewan where he continued his work in Emergency medicine. “The cutting edge aspects of Emergency medicine has always interested me,” says Dr. Jones. “Emergency is always fast paced and I enjoy making a difference in the lives of patients with acute conditions.”

For the last five years, Dr. Jones has treated patients at both Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals, and notes the importance of having leading-edge equipment: “Ultrasounds are quickly becoming integral to all areas of medicine and are specifically important when treating acute conditions.”

Whether faced with shortness of breath or a severe injury, patients coming to our Emergency Departments need quality care as quickly as possible. “I use ultrasound technology every day on a variety of patients, all with different types of conditions,” says Dr. Jones.

Because of the wide range of possible illness and injury, and the potentially life-threatening nature of every case, these units must be equipped to provide initial treatment to every one of these patients, 24 hours a day. “Ultrasound technology is an essential part of medicine today and allows us to perform the gold standard of practice,” says Dr. Jones. In Rebecca’s case, it was the collaborative effort of Dr. Jones and his team using ultrasound technology that saved her life.

When Rebecca arrived at the Emergency Department, she could no longer control her breathing and soon after, her heart stopped. “The Emergency team performed CPR on me for 38 minutes and Dr. Jones was able to quickly diagnose the pulmonary embolism using an ultrasound, saving my life,” says Rebecca. “The only reason I am alive is because I was in the Emergency Department, with access to Dr. Jones and an ultrasound, when my heart stopped. I am so thankful for the Emergency team for going above and beyond to save my life.”

Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals operate the busiest Emergency Departments on Vancouver Island and are there for us during times of critical need. So that more people can benefit from the same live-saving care, please consider make a donation towards the Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s Campaign for Ultrasound Technology. Thank you.

For Victoria resident Jerry-Lyn Sampson, family is everything. Jerry-Lyn grew up in Brentwood Bay and is a member of the Tsartlip First Nation. She has always been very close to her loved ones and enjoys their frequent family dinners and gatherings.

After having five beautiful children, Jerry-Lyn and her partner wanted to try for one more child. Jerry-Lyn’s mother only had her but always longed for a bigger family with many grandchildren. Unfortunately, due to a previous surgery to remove pre-cancerous cells in her cervix, pregnancy was a challenging, frustrating, and emotional process for Jerry-Lyn. She suffered multiple miscarriages and was losing hope. Luckily, Dr. John Cooper was able to use ultrasound technology to assess her cervix and treat Jerry-Lyn’s condition so she could fulfill her wish for her and her family.

Dr. Cooper was inspired to become a physician because of his desire to help others. After finishing medical school, Dr. Cooper worked as a physician in the Canadian Forces and later practiced family medicine before specializing in early pregnancy complications, high risk obstetrics, and gynecology. Through his everyday work, he emphasizes the revolutionary impact that ultrasound technology has had on his area of care. “Before ultrasound we did not have a safe way to assess fetal health and women’s anatomy,” says Dr. Cooper. “Ultrasound technology is the main medium by which we can assess and treat our patients.”

For Jerry-Lyn, ultrasound technology was the key tool that allowed Dr. Cooper to identify her condition. Due to the cone biopsy that was previously performed to treat pre-cancerous cells, her cervix had been severely shorted, a conditional called cervical incompetence. Now, her cervix was too short to support a fetus: the weight would open the cervix, leading to miscarriages. A procedure was needed in order for her to carry another baby.

“I measured Jerry-Lyn’s cervix using an ultrasound,” says Dr. Cooper. “I also used it to guide the procedure and place a stitch around her cervix.” The stitch allows for the cervix to remain closed for the entirety of the pregnancy.

The ultrasound was beneficial throughout Jerry Lyn’s journey: every two weeks Dr. Cooper would perform an ultrasound to assess the stitch and measure her cervix. “The scans helped keep my mind at ease throughout the pregnancy,” says Jerry-Lyn. “I found it very calming to know that the baby was healthy.”

Later in her pregnancy, regular ultrasounds were also performed to determine the safest time for Jerry-Lyn to deliver her baby. A month before her due date, Dr. Cooper noticed on the scan that Jerry-Lyn’s cervix had shortened substantially and that she would need to deliver early via a caesarian section. Due to the exceptional care of Dr. Cooper and the latest in ultrasound technology, Jerry-Lyn welcomed a healthy baby girl into her family. “I am amazed by the technology that is available today. I am grateful because I would not have my baby if it wasn’t for Dr. Cooper and ultrasound scans.”

Victoria General Hospital is Vancouver Island’s referral centre for complex gynecological care and performs nearly 3,000 gynecological surgeries every year. The diagnostic and surgical precision afforded by ultrasound allows for less-invasive surgery and is critical to the preservation of female fertility and reproductive success.

Equipment

The Medical Imaging departments at RJH and VGH perform over 38,000 ultrasound procedures combined each year. These ultrasounds are performed by sonographers and read by radiologists who provide timely and accurate results to physicians and caregivers across the healthcare system. Ultrasonography can be used to assess the vascular and pulmonary systems, internal organs, muscles and tissue, and pregnancies.

1 funded at $95,000

A radial endoscopic ultrasound involves the insertion of an ultrasound-equipped endoscope into the patient’s gastrointestinal tract, producing detailed images of this crowded, complex area. This procedure is used to diagnose, stage and monitor various cancers, tumours and other abnormalities. Each year over 15,000 endoscopic procedures are performed at RJH and VGH.

1 funded at $90,000

The Emergency Department at Royal Jubilee Hospital sees over 50,000 patient visits in a year and is the referral centre for cardiac, respiratory, renal, vascular, oncology and psychiatric services for Vancouver Island. A portable ultrasound allows physicians to quickly diagnose and direct care for patients without transferring them out of the Emergency Department. With over 140 patients a day seen on average, fast diagnosis not only improves care by allowing treatment to begin faster, it also helps to lower Emergency Department wait times.

1 funded at $70,000 

The ultrasound machine will be used in a variety of critical care situations. It is often used to assess kidneys and livers and monitor pulmonary cases.

1 funded at $55,000

The Antenatal Assessment Unit is a busy assessment unit for high-risk pregnancies at VGH. One procedure commonly performed in this unit is the fetal non-stress test, 230 to 320 of which are completed every month. This test monitors fetal heart rate and utilizes a fetal ultrasound to assess breathing, movement, muscle tone and amniotic fluid. Overall, this unit performs over 4,000 ultrasounds per year and this new ultrasound will help keep up with this demand.

1 funded at $55,000

VGH is Vancouver Island’s referral centre for complex gynecological care and performs nearly 3,000 gynecological surgeries every year. The diagnostic and surgical precision afforded by ultrasound allows for less-invasive surgery and is critical to the preservation of female fertility and reproductive success.

1 funded at $55,000

RJH is Vancouver Island’s referral centre for vascular care, a specialty concerning the circulatory system — including arteries, veins and lymphatic vessels, performing nearly 1,200 vascular procedures every year. Vascular ultrasound can assess blood flow, scan for blood clots, and identify other vascular abnormalities. For example, vascular ultrasound can be used to pin down the exact location of blood clots for treatment or removal.

1 funded at $65,000