Surrey Memorial Hospital’s pharmacy will undergo a major expansion following a $226,000 donation to Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation.
The gift from the Milan & Maureen Ilich Foundation will help the adult pharmacy department grow in size and keep up with the expected increase in demand created by a $512-million expansion and redevelopment of the hospital. An eight-storey Critical Care Tower now under construction is the centerpiece of this expansion project, which is the single largest capital investment ever in BC health care.
“By the time the new eight-storey Critical Care Tower is fully open in 2014, the pharmacy’s work is expected to more than double,” says Ray Jang, Distribution Coordinator for Lower Mainland Pharmacy Services at Surrey Memorial. “Pharmacy expansion will give us the space we need to meet the increased demand.”
The Ilich Foundation donation completes a renovation budget of $1.6 million, which will nearly double the size of the adult pharmacy and give the department enough room to receive supplies, process and verify prescriptions, manufacture and dispense the various medications, take part in research as well as teach pharmacy technician students and UBC pharmacy students and residents.
“This gift serves as an example of how the community plays a significant part in the growth of Surrey Memorial Hospital,” says Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation chair Ron Knight. “The contributions of our donors are helping the hospital expand its role in the region.”
In addition to the expansion of the hospital’s adult pharmacy, a separate construction project will see the introduction of a pediatric pharmacy embedded in the new 48-bed neonatal intensive care unit to be located on the 2nd floor of the Critical Care Tower. The new pediatric pharmacy will be the first of its kind in Fraser Health.
Created as a way to give back to the community, the Milan & Maureen Ilich Foundation holds a special interest in medical research and patient care but also supports a wide-range of causes, each one treated with the same level of respect and value.
Established in 1992, Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation has raised more than $60 million to purchase medical equipment, fund innovative programs, and support training and research.