The Centre for Understanding and Preventing Infection in Children received $3.2 million toward the creation of a world-class research centre that will bring together a team of scientists from different disciplines to focus on childhood infectious diseases. It will develop preventative strategies to safeguard the lives of millions of children around the world.
The Brain Research Centre at UBC Hospital received $6.8 million to expand its Translational Research Facility, which will use innovative technology to better diagnose brain diseases and develop therapies to more effectively treat and cure them. Ten million Canadians of all ages - nearly one in three - will be affected by a disease, disorder, or injury of the brain. The centre is a partnership between the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute and UBC.
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Upgrade of Vancouver General Hospital Emergency Department Complete
The completion of extensive renovations to the Emergency Department at Vancouver General Hospital will increase patient capacity, improve infection control and introduce a new donor-funded CT scanner to British Columbia's busiest trauma hospital.
The renovations cost $3.7 million and were completed in four phases over 16 months. The number of patient beds has been increased from 22 to 28, with sliding glass doors between many beds to maintain patient privacy and dignity and provide infection control between patients. Other improvements and additions include:
- Reconfiguration of the radiology section with the Emergency Department (ED), including the creation of a reception area, to better accommodate patients and create space for the first dual source CT scanner in Canada;
- Creation of a negative pressure pandemic triage area;
- Installation of enhanced security features;
- Addition of psychiatric observation rooms;
- New nurses station; and
- Improvements to the isolation rooms.
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Technology Grant Improves Quality of Life for Disabled
The Province announced this week that it is funding a $750,000 one-time grant to the University of Victoria's CanAssist team to build individualized technology for persons with disabilities.
The grant will increase CanAssist's ability to design and provide more specialized projects and equipment to persons with special needs and help recruit more volunteers. The grant will also bolster a number of key projects and research areas that include communication and control, mobility and motion, human-computer interaction and online learning and community building.
Projects include tricycles and bicycles for children with physical and visual impairments, high-tech wheelchair modifications and eye-tracking communication systems. To create these devices, CanAssist draws on the expertise of people ranging from engineers, music and kinesiology students to retired seamstresses.
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