Richmond’s Manmohan and Kusum Vij brought good news for Richmond Hospital and an inspiring message for the community.
The parents of internationally acclaimed chef Vikram Vij donated $100,000 to Richmond Hospital Foundation help fund a brand new state-of-the-art portable digital X-ray machine in Richmond Hospital’s Medical Imaging Department.
The new unit is faster and more accurate, providing greater clarity and safety while using lower doses of radiation. It replaces a unit that is more than 25 years old and at the end of its lifespan
“Medical imaging plays a crucial role in helping physicians treat a patient,” said Dr. Ian Wong, Head of Medical Imaging at Richmond Hospital. “Sometimes having a picture is worth a thousand words in answering what the disease is that may be going on inside,” he said. “This machine will be used daily and is able to go to all areas of the hospital to obtain vital images and help doctors make a diagnosis,”
Noting that Richmond Hospital has many urgent needs, Manmohan Vij said that the community has a responsibility to give back. “Richmond Hospital has given us very good service in the past. Today it is giving us better service, and in the future, with your help, it will be giving us the best service,” he said. “With the help of my brothers and sisters, especially seniors, we should give some attention (to giving) whatever little or more we have. This is the best investment.”
Manmohan and Kusum Vij were born in Amritsar in the Indian state of Punjab. Overseeing a wholesale textile company with his maternal grandfather in Bombay, Manmohan along with wife Kusum raised their two children, son Vikram and daughter Gauri, in India. The couple emigrated to Canada in 1994 and have been residents of Richmond since 1998.
As unprecedented population growth in Richmond surges exponentially and a booming seniors’ population places enormous demands on our hospital facilities and equipment, Dr. Wong thanked the Vij family for their generous donation to improve medical imaging for patients at Richmond Hospital each and every day. “This equipment is a wonderful gift for our department, but it’s actually a gift for the community as a whole,” he said.
