VGH is home to world-class teams of clinician-scientists whose everyday mission is to provide the best specialized adult health care in BC. They work 24 hours caring for the province’s most complex and challenging cases, from cancer surgery to spinal trauma, to transplants, rare diseases, and more.

Many of these clinicians believe so much in this work, they themselves donate and give back to the very hospitals and health care centres they provide care in. These physicians partake in what is known as the Physician Giving program, and since 2018 have collectively raised more than $3.84 million across 16 divisions of care.

“I think we realize that we are surgeons who provide care, but we also recognize the fact that we are part of a larger community at VGH, Vancouver, and also British Columbia,” says Dr. Peter Kim.

Dr. Kim (pictured above) is a liver transplant and hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) surgeon, and current head of that program at VGH. He and his colleagues on the HPB team, including Dr. Stephanie Chartier-Plante, Dr. Maja Segedi, Dr. Stephen Chung, Dr. Graziano Oldani, and Dr. Michael Bleszynski all give their all to ensure vulnerable, sick patients get the organs they need. Each of them also participates in the Physician Giving program.

“With what we do with the patients who are really sick, these are really high intensity operations that require expertise, and we have to be all in,” says Dr. Chung. “Just like we’re all in clinically, I think we like to be all in with the community financially.”

“We’re totally dedicated to our patients and the best outcomes, but I think if you ask any one of us either collectively or independently, I think we’re all very service-oriented and committed to more than just our own clinical practices,” adds Dr. Chartier-Plante.

Dr. Larry Goldenberg, OBC, OC, urologic surgeon, and associate director of the internationally renowned Vancouver Prostate Centre, alongside his colleagues in urology Dr. Martin Gleave, Dr. Ben Chew, and Dr. Peter Black, echo those statements.

“We know firsthand the impact and value of our work, and for many years now how financial gifts determine the care we can offer today, the research we conduct, and therefore the care available tomorrow,” says Dr. Goldenberg (pictured above).

Dr. Savvas Nicolaou, Director of Emergency and Trauma Imaging at VGH, and professor of radiology at UBC, agrees.

“While we are clinician-scientists who provide care, we also recognize we are part of a larger community. One that thrives when we all put our best into it, to take care of each other and our loved ones. Giving helps ensure the best care is available at VGH, and it makes me proud to do so,” says Dr. Nicolaou.

Whether funding education, research or tools and equipment, the Physician Giving program has played a critical role in empowering our world-class hospitals and health care centres.

Thank you, to each physician named above, and many others including: Dr. Jens Lohser and the Anesthesiology department team, Dr. Heather Lindsay and the Emergency Medicine department team, the Vancouver Acute Emergency Physician Association, the Gynecologic Oncology team including Dr. Marette Lee, Dr. Jessica McAlpine, Dr. Sarah Finlayson, Dr. Janice Kwon and Dr. Mark S Carey, the ICU team including Dr. Myp Sekhon, Dr. Don Griesdale, and Dr. Gordon Finlayson, the entire Division of Cardiology who were early pioneers in physician giving, Dr. Ran Goldman of the Hematology Research Program, the Nephrology department, Dr. Brian Kwon and the Orthopedics department team, the General Surgery department team including Dr. Heather Stuart and Dr. Morad Hameed, Dr. Gary Redekop and the Neurosurgery department team, the Plastic Surgery department team including Dr. Peter Lennox and Dr. Erin Brown, the Urologic Sciences department team including Dr. Jerry Chen, Dr. David Harriman and Dr. Christopher Nguan, Dr. Dianne Miller for OVCARE, the Respiratory department, the Ophthalmology department, Dr. Sam Yip, Dr. Philip Teal and the Vancouver Stroke Program team, and more.

Together, we can join these physicians in transforming health care. Donate today.