A recent round of Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation’s Major Equipment Fund is providing close to $1.4 million in donor-funded equipment, technology and patient care improvements, helping advance specialized care at Royal Columbian Hospital.
Through the generosity of donors to Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation, these investments are helping bring new tools, training and treatment options into care environments where they are needed most. Funding decisions are guided by clinical priorities and reflect emerging needs across the hospital, long-term care sites and specialized programs.
Together, these investments underscore Royal Columbian Hospital’s role as a leading referral centre for complex and specialized care, serving patients from across the Fraser Health region, British Columbia and beyond.
Strengthening care for patients with neurological conditions:
Donor funding is supporting three important advances in neurological care. New pupillometry technology provides objective measurements of how a patient’s pupils respond to light, helping care teams detect subtle changes that can signal worsening neurological injury and the need for urgent intervention.
The investment also includes a new neuronavigation system that provides neurosurgeons with a highly detailed three-dimensional surgical roadmap during brain and spine surgery. By integrating MRI and CT scans with the position of surgical instruments, the system enables greater precision during complex procedures and helps protect surrounding healthy tissue.
A third investment supports neurosurgical patients who require temporary drainage of cerebrospinal fluid, the clear fluid that surrounds and protects the brain and spinal cord. A new drainage system allows care teams to monitor pressure and carefully manage the removal of cerebrospinal fluid for patients recovering from brain injuries, bleeding in the brain and complex neurosurgical procedures.
Advancing cardiac and vascular care:
Royal Columbian Hospital is one of British Columbia’s leading centres for cardiac surgery, with about 1,000 open-heart surgeries performed each year. Patients spend their first day of recovery in the Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit, where specially trained teams closely monitor them during this critical period. Donor funding is providing specialized emergency equipment that allows cardiac surgery teams to respond immediately if a life-threatening complication occurs after surgery. Because these situations require treatment within minutes, having the right surgical equipment available in the intensive care unit saves valuable time.
Donors are also funding a new mobile vascular diagnostic system that enables specialized blood flow studies to be performed at a patient’s bedside. As the regional centre for vascular surgery, Royal Columbian Hospital relies on these studies to help diagnose circulatory conditions and begin treatment without the need to transport critically ill patients elsewhere in the hospital.
Helping the smallest patients receive care with fewer needle pokes:
Royal Columbian Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is one of only four tertiary-level NICUs in British Columbia, caring for approximately 450 infants each year.
Donor funding is supporting new vein-finder technology that projects a map of veins onto the skin, helping clinicians identify suitable veins for intravenous access. Because premature and critically ill newborns often require repeated IV treatments and have extremely small, fragile veins, the technology can help reduce unsuccessful attempts and make procedures less stressful for babies and families.
Making hospital experiences easier for children and families:
As pediatric services expand at Royal Columbian Hospital, donor support is helping establish a new pediatric playroom and provide specialized Child Life resources.
The space in the Jim Pattison Acute Care Tower will include therapeutic play materials, sensory tools, adaptive toys and family-centred resources designed to help children cope with hospitalization, procedures and treatment. Play is an important part of childhood development and can also help reduce fear and anxiety, improve cooperation during care and create a more positive hospital experience for children and their families.
Improving the assessment of swallowing disorders:
Speech-language pathologists play an important role in helping people eat and drink safely following stroke, neurological illness, injury and other medical conditions.
Donor funding is providing new technology that enhances modified barium swallow studies, an imaging test that allows clinicians to observe swallowing in real time. The system captures higher-quality images, supports more accurate analysis and allows teams to compare studies over time, helping guide treatment decisions and monitor progress.
Supporting specialized facial reconstruction and jaw surgery:
Royal Columbian Hospital is home to one of the province’s specialized oral and maxillofacial surgery programs, providing care for patients with facial trauma, jaw abnormalities and other complex conditions.
New donor-funded equipment will support highly specialized procedures that help restore facial function, improve breathing and sleep, correct bite problems and rebuild facial structures following injury or disease. These surgeries can have a profound impact on a patient’s health, comfort and quality of life.
Supporting care and quality of life in long-term care:
At Queen’s Park Care Centre, donor funding is helping improve both daily living and emergency care for residents with complex health needs.
A new combi oven will use advanced heat, steam and humidity controls to prepare more nutritious, flavourful and appealing meals, supporting residents who often have reduced appetites or specialized dietary needs. Donors are also funding new portable suction machines, replacing aging equipment with modern devices that allow staff to respond quickly to airway emergencies and provide safe, reliable care around the clock.
Additional investments:
This latest round of funding also includes new surgical equipment for Royal Columbian Hospital’s operating rooms and inpatient units. As some programs move into the new Jim Pattison Acute Care Tower, donor funding is also helping improve patient and staff spaces that remain in Columbia Tower. These enhancements will create safer, more functional workspaces, support the movement of patients and equipment, and provide more comfortable environments for the teams who continue delivering care there.
