The Victoria Hospitals Foundation (VHF) is celebrating a significant donation from Townline, a prominent real estate developer in Victoria and Vancouver. Townline made the $600,000 donation in December 2019, completing the Foundation’s funding of the new 3 Tesla (3T) MRI machine for Royal Jubilee Hospital (RJH) as part of its Big Picture campaign.

For Townline President Rick Ilich, the contribution towards one of Victoria’s hospitals is ingrained in the builder’s down-to-earth philosophy of enriching our cities and communities in every way. Townline made its mark on Victoria’s urban landscape with the completion of the downtown heritage conversion The Hudson in 2010. It has since added 400 rental homes in nearby Hudson Mews, Hudson Walk One, and Hudson Walk Two projects to its portfolio in the city’s downtown core. Through its subsidiary TL Housing Solutions, they have consulted and built 395 affordable rental homes in Victoria and Langford for the non-market sector.

“Doing our part means taking care of the health, spirit and well-being of our communities by supporting a variety of social programs, cultural events, and local hospitals,” says Ilich. The developer is no stranger to philanthropic gestures, and carries on a tradition of involvement with local hospitals foundations begun by his late father, Milan Ilich, over 30 years ago.

“Because of Townline’s remarkable gift, our community has successfully met our goal in funding the 3T MRI through the Big Picture campaign,” said Avery Brohman, a/ Executive Director for the Victoria Hospitals Foundation. “This equipment supports not only our patients in Victoria, but those throughout Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands who are referred here for advanced care. Townline’s gift has helped give our physicians and care teams the ability to see what’s happening inside a patient’s body, in real time. We cannot thank them enough for this incredibly philanthropic gesture and for inspiring our team and community.”

The Big Picture is VHF’s largest and most ambitious campaign to date, aiming to raise $4 million for priority medical imaging equipment for Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals. Launched in November 2019, the community has already given more than $2.7 million towards its fundraising goal, assisted greatly by Townline’s generous and inspiring gift towards the 3T MRI.

MRI scanners are ideal for imaging soft tissues in the body, such as muscles, tendons, ligaments, nerves, the brain, and the spinal cord. The advanced 3T MRI—the first of its kind for Island Health—was installed in 2019, improving diagnostic accuracy and reliability for a number of indications, including epilepsy, prostate cancer, breast cancer, and neurological, cerebrovascular, musculoskeletal and cardiac conditions. Almost 25,000 MRI procedures were performed at Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals last year.

With a total project cost of $6 million, cost shared between Ministry of Health, the Capital Regional Hospital District, the Victoria Hospitals Foundation and Island Health, the new 3T MRI has been made possible by generous donations and with contributions from multiple organizations. The unveiling of the 3T MRI was celebrated by the Ministry of Health in October 2019. Full news release: news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2019HLTH0141-001960

The 3T MRI at Royal Jubilee Hospital contributes to the Province’s surgical and diagnostic strategy, introduced in 2018 to improve timely access to surgery through a more-efficient surgical system, and help the province catch up and keep up with demand. The strategy is working to improve patients’ experiences by focusing on improving surgical pathways, co-ordination of care and information provided to patients.

For more information on The Big Picture campaign, please visit victoriahf.ca/bigpicture.