Privately owned Dilawri, the largest shareholder of Automotive Properties REIT, has made a $60 million donation through its foundation to establish the Dilawri Cardiovascular Institute at Vancouver General Hospital in British Columbia.
The new facility will be embedded within the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, one of the top-funded research institutes in Canada, on the Vancouver General Hospital campus, the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation said.
The hospital foundation said $35 million of the donated money will help fund a multiuse tower at Oak Street and West 12th Avenue, and $25 million will be earmarked for an innovation fund.
Established in 2002, the Dilawri Foundation has contributed millions of dollars to a wide range of charitable causes. Dilawri owns about 32% of Automotive Properties, the country's largest publicly traded car dealership owner.
"For our family, this is about bringing our values of compassion and community to life through meaningful investments that allow us to give back in a lasting way," said Ajay Dilawri, cofounder of both the Dilawri Foundation and automotive giant Dilawri, in a statement. "Our goal is to help establish a global centre of excellence that will set a new benchmark for cardiac innovation and treatment. We hope this gift will help improve health care and quality of life on a broader scale."
The goal of the innovation fund is to create a national cardiovascular hub and one of the world's leading cardiovascular institutes, the hospital foundation said. A cardiovascular research and clinical care network will be established with partner sites throughout North America and Europe and will work to recruit top clinicians and scientists from Canada and across the globe, the foundation added.
Dr. David Wood, head of cardiology at VGH and UBC Hospital, is set to lead the institute.
"Our clinicians and researchers are focused on using new technology and discoveries to improve access to care, shorten wait times, improve outcomes, and decrease recovery times," Wood said in a statement. "We have already taught centres throughout North America and around the globe how to replace heart valves in under 30 minutes so patients can go home the same day or how to treat heart rhythm problems sooner, long before any cardiac damage becomes permanent."