VICTORIA -- A local family has donated $1 million to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation fund for critical equipment at the Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals.
The donation comes from the estate of Wilson Lai, a local businessman. Before his death, Lai had directed to his estate to support charitable causes across Canada and around the world.
According to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation, his family’s motto is “Received from Society, Giving Back to Society.”
The foundation says that Lai’s $1-million donation will go towards funding a new sterilizer at Victoria General Hospital and towards a new cart washer for the medical device reprocessing department at Royal Jubilee.
The two pieces of equipment were “identified as a priority need by Island Health,” says the foundation.
“To honour Mr. Lai’s generosity, the 7 North surgical recovery unit in the Patient Care Centre at [Royal Jubilee Hospital] will be renamed the Wilson S.C. Lai Surgical Unit in the coming months,” said the Victoria Hospitals Foundation.
The foundation says that Lai and his family have been supporters of Victoria’s healthcare system for more than 15 years.
The organization hopes that the family’s generous contribution will encourage others to donate to Victoria’s local hospitals, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Donations to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation, which helps allocate funding to where it is needed most, can be made online here.
