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Two Decades of Discovery, Generations of Impact •

The Science of Listening – Two Decades of Discovery, Generations of Impact

For years, April lived with unexplained pelvic pain.“I suffered for a long, long time,” says April (not her real name), who shared her experience with urogynecologist Dr. Erin Kelly and her research team at the Dale Sheard Centre for Solutions in Women’s Health in Edmonton.For Jane (also a pseudonym), the symptoms began in elementary school. Constant pressure on her bladder was debilitating.“Doctors would kind of brush me off and say it was anxiety or a bladder infection that was never diagnosed...
Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation •

A Return to Health

For one man, a dream deferred and then renewed, began with a simple meal delivery. After a stay at Langley Memorial Hospital, the Langley resident returned home facing significant challenges. Living with vision loss, he struggled with malnutrition, isolation and limited social connections. Without a strong support network, everyday tasks became increasingly difficult, and he believed he was facing a lonely future. When hospital social workers referred him to Langley Meals on Wheels’ Home from th...
Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation •

Moving On with Mobility and New Strength

Ten months after a stroke weakened the left side of her body, Esther was looking for a way to regain the strength she needed to live independently. In her early 80s and living on her own, she had worked hard in rehabilitation. While much of the strength had returned to her leg, weakness in her arm and hand remained, making everyday activities more difficult. She relied on volunteer drivers to get to appointments and was searching for new ways to continue rebuilding her strength after her formal...
Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation •

From a Grateful Patient: Dennis Ducklow

Until the first sharp bolt of pain hit him in his side, Dennis Ducklow’s day was passing as what would otherwise be remembered as a pleasant and entirely forgettable Tuesday. He had spent some time with friends and on the drive home, he and his wife stopped at Tim Hortons where he purchased a double double, a rare treat. “Right after that I started getting this pain,” says Dennis, a photographer and educator who has worked with the Foundation and other organizations around Langley. “I didn’t fin...
Capilano University •

Clearing a Path to CapU

This fall, de la Vega will apply his background in music to his education at CapU to pursue his dream of working in sound design.
“Sound design is cool because it’s an invisible art; it’s all about making an atmosphere in a soundscape that matches with the picture and makes it more immersive to the viewer.”
De la Vega focused on sciences throughout high school at Templeton Secondary, but always knew he’d follow his heart into the arts.
It didn’t hurt that his mother was a trained pianist; he was...
Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation •

‘Leadership Without Fanfare’ Earns Langley Doctor BC’s Physician of the Year Award

Dr. Anita Wong was a dance mom to her daughters for about 15 years. In many ways, not much has changed for BC’s newly crowned Family Physician of the Year. “I’ve always been sort of a backstage mom,” says Wong, medical director of Foundry Langley and a 30-year Langley resident. “I’m not a natural leader. I don’t stand up and do speeches or anything like that. I’d rather do the background work.”That humility is one characteristic of her approach to care that may have appealed to the College of Fa...
Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation •

From Setback to Comeback — Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation

After living with osteoarthritis for almost a decade, Mark Spelliscy was noticing a distinct change in his mobility. He was in pain, there was no doubt. And painkillers, topical creams and patches no longer helped.Mark, then 71, was referred to Langley Memorial Hospital orthopedic surgeon Dr. Mark Chiu, who offered the painful diagnosis: with no cartilage remaining, Mark’s knee bones were rubbing together.This was disconcerting. Mark, his wife Bev and their two sons had spent a lifetime involved...
Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation •

Retirees on a Mission to Combat Food Insecurity in Langley

Married for 53 years, Marlene and Bill Turner see their Wednesday morning routine as a strategic part of their retirement plan. While other weekdays are dedicated to exercise, errands and socializing, Wednesday mornings have become the cornerstone of their community service. For a decade, the Turners have volunteered with Langley Meals on Wheels (LMOW), a local organization that makes and delivers nutritious meals to those in the community who need it most. The faces of food insecurity are diver...
Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation •

Telemetry & Training Improves Cardiac Care

For iron-clad evidence on how donations can transform the lives of patients, donors need to look no further thank the impact of philanthropy on cardiac care at Langley Memorial Hospital (LMH). Funds raised through the 2023 gala and through individual gifts allowed the Foundation to purchase advanced telemetry equipment for the cardiac care unit that otherwise would not have been available here in Langley.The funds purchased advanced telemetry equipment - bedside monitors that continuously track...
Capilano University •

Generosity Through the Generations

For longtime North Vancouver residents Deborah and Allan Edgeworth, the bursary that bears the name of their eldest son is all of those things, and more: it’s also a tribute to the student experience at Capilano University, and part of a family tradition of generosity.
As longtime donors to CapU through securities gifts and a memorial bursary, the Edgeworths are fuelled by the compassion they recognized in their son Kenneth, who studied at CapU in the 1990s (when it was still Capilano College),...
University of Alberta •

A Legacy in 2SLGBTQ+ Health Care

In 2017, Lorne Warneke sat down with John Chan, his husband of 24 years, and expressed his regret about retiring and his wishes for the patients he’d be leaving behind. But he was getting older, and an old ankle injury caused him a lot of pain and affected his balance. That, combined with his cardiovascular disease, caused him to sustain several falls. 
“We were sitting on the couch, and he was teary-eyed,” Chan recalls. “He told me, ‘I don’t want to retire, because there are so many patients wh...
Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation •

The Long Road Back

For nearly a lifetime, Mark Diotte has cycled the roads of Langley and the West Coast, solo or with clubs and teams. It’s as if cycling is his life source - and in fact, that’s exactly what it turned out to be. Mark, a 20 year Langley resident, travels on two wheels an average of 10,000 kilometres a year and has logged as many as 17,000 in one year. His history in the cycling world reads like an atlas: Seattle to Portland in a day, Mt Baker up and down and Kelowna to North Delta regularly.He has...
Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation •

Breaking Stigmas, Curing Pain

For Randy Poulin, living with a pilonidal cyst was like carrying a secret burden. Like many patients with this condition, he felt a discomfort that would come and go, and simple activities became challenging.“It was kind of random,” recalls Randy, now a Bowen Island businessman who manages his family’s distillery and development projects. “I would have periods of discomfort, sitting down or playing sports, and then it would go away.”That changed five years ago when Randy, then 30 and with a newb...
University of Alberta •

Philanthropy Opens a World of Neurogenetics for a New Fellow at the University of Alberta

When you’re deeply curious and engaged, doors can open for you across the world — often in places you least expect.
The daughter of two mathematicians, Marta Villa Lopez grew up in Madrid, Spain. She has practiced as a neurologist in Spain, completed one fellowship in Toronto and collaborated on research in both the Canadian city and in Sweden. While those locales are exciting places for a neurologist to learn and work, it’s Edmonton and the U of A that have opened her eyes to a world that she’d...
Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation •

Lighting Up Minds, Energizing Seniors

Fixed on a ceiling in a dimly-lit space at Langley Memorial Hospital’s Maple Hill long-term care residence, the Tovertafel projects colourful moving games down to a surface: virtual fish swim closer when residents touch the table, fall leaves drift and respond to movement. In the most popular game, residents “polish” images of silverware until they gleam and disappear.Behind this innovation lies a story of community generosity that began with Saturday afternoon meat draws at the Langley Lions Cl...

How a Classroom ‘Flip’ Engages Students

Here’s an assignment: try to recall the university classroom or course that was so engaging that you couldn’t help but retain the material years later.
Odds are this class experience strayed far from the conventional lecture. It was full of conversation. You were free to ask questions, solve problems with fellow students, take part in debates and do meaningful group projects. Maybe you got to know your professor, teaching assistant and classmates better than you did in other courses.
It’s that k...
Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation •

Donor Support Brings Psychiatric Care to Langley Youth — Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation

Having given to Foundry Langley every year since 2022, Orion Construction’s involvement in youth mental health initiatives isn’t just corporate philanthropy - it’s deeply rooted in the company’s core values, says Cameron Archer, Orion Construction’s Director of Sales and Marketing. “We want to help provide the communities Orion operates in with equal opportunities to get the support they need,” he says.Until recently, psychiatric services were hard to come by for youth in Langley.Thanks to donor...
University of Alberta •

Research Reaches Aging

Canada’s population of seniors aged 85 and older is our fastest-growing demographic group. Improving care for those who’ll need it is more important than ever, and COVID-19 showed us the challenges facing the long-term care sector. Research leaders from the Faculty of Nursing are enhancing standards of care for older adults near the end of life and living in long-term care (LTC) homes. And they’re picking up the pace of knowledge translation, getting research findings into the hands of caregiver...