Victoria Hospitals Foundation celebrates Canadian Tire’s commitment to advancing cardiac care at Royal Jubilee Hospital through $1 million pledge
Today the Victoria Hospitals Foundation (VHF) gathered with the owners and staff of Greater Victoria Canadian Tire stores to recognize their ongoing support of advanced cardiac care on Vancouver Island, through the annual Fix-A-Heart campaign. The at-the-till initiative runs every November 24 through December 24 to raise funds for local cardiac care. This year, the event raised $61,000 as part of a larger $1 million pledge, thanks to customer donations at the Hillside, View Royal, Royal Oak, North Saanich, and Langford stores, as well as the Gordon Head Auto Centre.
At the Hillside store, a cheque was presented to VHF to support the purchase of a new C-Arm for the Heart Catheterization Lab at RJH, as part of VHF’s Imaging is Power campaign. The celebration took place in February to coincide with Heart Month. Dr. Christopher Franco, Medical Director for Heart Health at RJH, cardiac patient Greg Clarke, and VHF representatives were present to celebrate the gift.
“It is invaluable to have a community partner like our local Canadian Tire stores, their employees, and their customers that see such merit in supporting our local cardiac care teams,” says Avery Brohman, CEO of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation. “For years, the local Canadian Tire stores and employees have brought the community together to help provide our caregivers with the resources they need, and ask for, to stay on the leading edge of cardiac care. Through the initiative, they also provide our cardiac experts with great appreciation, and shine a light on the excellent cardiac teams we have access to if we need it—and that, is a very special gift.”
“Our collaborative, multidisciplinary Heart Health team is an incredible local resource,” adds Dr. Chris Franco, Medical Director for Heart Health at RJH. “Community support is necessary for a cardiac centre of excellence and for doctors and nurses to have the right tools to do this important job. Cardiac care is getting more complicated, more complex, and we want to be as prepared as we can be. Giving touches on every aspect of a patient’s journey—from their initial acute sickness, through surgery and rehabilitation, to the outpatient world. We are most thankful.”
From 2003 to 2020, the Fix-A-Heart initiative raised more than $1 million for cardiac care equipment at RJH. In 2021, the five Canadian Tire stores and the Gordon Head Auto Centre renewed their commitment to raise an additional $1 million for cardiac care at RJH over the next ten years. In the past decade, the Fix-A-Heart campaign has helped fund over 80 pieces of equipment for cardiac care.
“Our local stores, together with our teams and our customers, are honoured to support such an important cause in our community,” says Justin Young, Owner, Canadian Tire Hillside. “The generosity of the community year after year speaks to how important of a cause this is and how heart disease really does impact so many on Vancouver Island. Anyway we can support the skilled teams in Royal Jubilee Hospital’s cardiac unit, we will and continue to commit to.”
The $61,000 raised will support the purchase of a new C-Arm for RJH’s Heart Catheterization Lab. A C-Arm is a maneuverable machine that captures X-ray images of a patient’s heart and blood vessels in real-time. Heart catheterization is needed to see if the heart muscle, valves, or arteries are diseased. The C-Arm assists care teams with patient diagnosis and treatment on the spot, reducing recovery times and side effects, and improving the patient’s overall healthcare journey.
“Knowing my care team had real-time imaging using the C-Arm was reassuring. I could hear them say the device was in position and when it started functioning,” says Greg Clarke, a cardiac patient who has shared his story with VHF. “After the procedure, I learned my artery had been 70 per cent blocked. It’s so important to recognize we have access to great local hospital healthcare if, and when, we need it.”
The new C-Arm in the Heart Catheterization lab will cost $2 million; RJH is Vancouver Island’s referral centre for all advanced cardiac care.
To learn more about the C-Arm, Fix-A-Heart, and supporting the Victoria Hospitals Foundation, please visit victoriahf.ca/fix
