Dr. Jerry Chen is counting down the days. This November 2016, a very special operating room opens at VGH. “It’s called an interventional or ‘hybrid’ operating room,” says Dr. Chen. “It’s like a one-stop super-modern surgery shop. Because it includes its own state-of-the-art imaging equipment, we won’t have to move patients to another location during surgery for imaging. This is so important. When a patient’s life is hanging in the balance, every second counts.”

Dr. Chen is a superstar medical specialist in Vascular Surgery. He has been the passionate head of VGH’s Division of Vascular Surgery since 2008. He and his colleagues within the Vascular, Trauma and Cardiovascular teams are so committed to improving the health of their patients that they collectively donated $140,000 towards the new hybrid operating room.

Their donation joins the many of donors who together have raised over $8 million for the new operating room.

“Philanthropy plays a vital role in our health care system. These donations aren’t just gifts, they’re investments in the future of patient care at our hospitals. By joining in philanthropy, our surgical team will lead the charge to improve vascular health for our patients.” — Dr. Jerry Chen, Surgeon, Head, division of Vascular Surgery, VGH