Editor:
As we pause on Nov. 11 to remember those who sacrificed their lives in military service, we can also give thanks to the Second World War veterans who played a role in building Surrey Memorial Hospital.
Surrey vets, fresh from the battlefield, arrived back home in the 1940s and took up an important cause closer to home. They fought for a new hospital.
Due to their relentless fundraising and advocacy, Surrey Memorial Hospital opened in 1959. Now, 52 years later, it is the second largest hospital in B.C. It is now undergoing an expansion that will see the addition of 151 new beds, bringing it to 650 beds.
The construction of the Critical Care Tower at Surrey Memorial is the largest capital expansion in the province’s history. Additionally, it plays an important role in the training of doctors with an entire floor in the new tower devoted to the Medical School at UBC.
The veterans, their families and friends would be proud that their actions have brought relief and life-saving treatment to so many families.
Your work has made life better for hundreds and thousands of Surrey residents, past, present and future.
Jane Adams, Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation CEO