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A donation by longtime Richmond couple Manmohan and Kusum Vij has been used to purchase a portable digital x-ray machine at Richmond Hospital.
Photo by Don Fennell
Vij family gives generously to Richmond Hospital
The generosity of a local family will improve
medical imaging at Richmond Hospital, while also hopefully inspiring others to
give.
A donation of $100,000 by Manmohan and Kusum
Vij will assist in the purchase of a portable digital X-ray machine. The new
unit can be used at a patient’s bedside and is faster and more accurate while
using lower doses of radiation.
“This is really a gift for the whole
community. It will help (doctors) diagnose their patients and treat them well,”
Dr. Ian Wong, head of medical imaging at Richmond Hospital, said at a Wednesday
event to celebrate the contribution.
Wong explained that medical imaging is a
speciality which uses x-rays, ultrasounds, cat scans, MRIs and mammograms to
see inside the body.
“Sometimes having a picture is a thousand
words in answering what the disease going on inside might be,” he said.
Born in Amritsar in the Indian state of
Punjab, Manmohan and Kusum Vij raised two children, son Vikram and daughter
Gauri, in India. Manmohan headed up a textile company with his grandfather in
Bombay before the couple emigrated to Canada in 1994. They have resided in
Richmond since 1998.
Manmohan said Richmond Hospital is an
important resource within the city.
“Right from birth to the end of life we need
the services of the hospital,” he said. “Our Richmond Hospital has given us
very good services, today is giving us better services, and in the future, with
your help, will be giving us the best services maybe in Canada. I say, and I
underline, that with the help of my brothers and sisters, especially seniors,
should give some attention (to giving) whatever little or more they have in the
kitty. I suggest this is the best investment.”
The couple’s son, renowned international chef
Vikram Vij, also spoke on the importance of giving.
“I’m truly humbled and honoured to be a son
of Manmohan and Kusum,” he said. “It’s important for us to realize when we come
to a new country, to a foreign country, you cannot forget the roots of where
you came from. Who we are today is an offspring of the country we grew up in.
“But we (also) cannot forget that the country
we (now) live in, which is Canada, is the country that has given us the love,
and the attention and the idea of freedom. Last year I had the opportunity to
cook for the troops in Kuwait. The fact we’re all free is because those troops
are protecting us.
“So, let’s make sure this gift my father and
mother have given…encourages other members of the community to give back to the
country because we do live in one of the finest democracies in the world. Let’s
make sure this habit of giving in our community is constantly ongoing.”
Richmond Hospital Foundation president and
CEO Natalie Meixner said unprecedented population growth in Richmond is surging
exponentially and a booming seniors’ population is placing enormous demands on
our hospital facilities and equipment.
“We thank Manmohan and Kusum for helping to
ensure our medical teams can meet the needs of our community now and in the
future,” she said.
During the last 30 years, Richmond Hospital
Foundation has raised nearly $75 million to help purchase vital medical
equipment, improve patient care services and upgrade facilities at Richmond
Hospital.
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