Jason Ko could barely walk.  

For months, he endured a debilitating pain in his leg. Eventually, the pain turned to numbness.  

“It felt like I wasn’t alive,” he recalled.  

But after undergoing a 30-minute procedure in Taiwan, where the doctors used a minimally invasive spinal endoscopy system, he felt reborn. The next day, Ko was discharged from the hospital.  

And within a week? 

“I was climbing mountains,” he joked. 

Ko, a Canadian-Taiwanese business leader living in Vancouver, later discovered that no hospital in Canada’s public health care system had the equipment that changed his life.  

He was determined to fix that. 

This was the inspiration behind Jason and Emily Ko’s $1 million donation to VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation, which will bring the innovative spinal endoscopy system to VGH.   

“This is a game-changer,” said Dr. Nicolas Dea, division head of the Combined Neurosurgery & Orthopaedic Spine Program at VGH. “And it’s a race across the country: who’s going to bring this to their patients? We’re really at the forefront of that race. It’s going to be a less invasive surgery, with less post-operative complications and less post-operative pain, and it would never be possible without generous donations like this.”   

Revolutionizing spine surgery in BC and beyond  

Traditional “open” spine surgeries typically involve large incisions, with surgeons detaching muscles from the spine and performing “bony work” to decompress nerves, Dr. Dea explained. Using an endoscope with a small HD camera attached, “you can do all of that without the big opening, without removing the muscle, and with a clear visualization of the nerve root.”  

For patients, this means less pain, less blood loss, less need for narcotics, and, crucially, shorter recovery times. In many cases, patients will be able to leave the hospital the same day, allowing VGH to operate on even more patients.  

“I’ve had many patients come in and ask for endoscopy surgeries,” said Dr. Charlotte Dandurand, who will lead the spinal endoscopy program at VGH. “So, to be able to actually offer it to patients will be a great advancement for everyone in British Columbia.” 

In reality, the impact of the Kos’ donation will extend far beyond the province, according to Dr. Brian Kwon, an award-winning spine surgeon and clinician scientist at VGH. The VGH spine program trains four to five new fellows every year, who will now learn to use the spinal endoscopy system and carry their expertise to other provinces and countries as they continue their careers.    

“So, it will have a real knock-on effect on the next generation of surgeons,” Dr. Kwon said.  

A ‘mission’ to give back  

 

Over the last decade, Dr. Dea says every major acquisition in spinal surgery at VGH has been made possible by philanthropy. Philanthropy fuels innovation, he says, and it’s all thanks to generous donors like Jason and Emily Ko (pictured above).  

This isn’t the Kos’ first donation to VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation. Previously, their $1.2 million gift helped establish a Lung Cancer Screening Pilot Program at VGH, which is now funded by the government and rolled out through BC Cancer.  

As successful immigrants, the Kos believe that their legacy is in sharing their wealth with the community and giving back to help others, a philosophy they share with their family and employees at their company, Viva Pharmaceutical. 

“We always think about how to benefit the human body and give back to the community,” Ko said.

“It’s our mission.”  

VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation partners with donors to raise essential funds for specialized adult health care services and research benefiting everyone in BC. To donate, visit vghfoundation.ca/ways-to-give.