September 21, 2007
Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation > Media Room > September 21, 2007

Fraser Valley businessman commits $250,000 to Emergency Centre Campaign

Surrey, B.C. – Fraser Valley businessman Ralph Berezan has pledged $250,000 towards a replacement to Surrey Memorial Hospital’s current, overcrowded E.R.
 

The head of the Berezan Group is a partner in Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation’s $15 million Emergency Centre Campaign. As well as donating to the cause, Berezan sits on the Foundation’s Emergency Centre Campaign Executive. “We are very grateful to have Ralph’s support,” says Foundation President/CEO Jane Adams. “To receive a gift of this size so early in the campaign from a businessman of Ralph’s stature has contributed to our success.”
 

Among his businesses, Berezan owns several pubs/restaurants throughout B.C., the Hemlock Valley Ski Resort, and the Surrey Eagles Junior A ice hockey team.
 

Surrey Memorial Hospital’s current ER – the busiest in B.C. - was designed to handle about 44,000 visits a year but has instead been seeing close to 70,000 patients a year.
 

The new Emergency Centre, at triple the size of the current facility, will include a separate children’s ER, as well as a separate mental health and addictions area, an enhanced minor treatment unit, and an improved area for acute patients.

The B.C. government has committed to funding the essentials of a replacement to Surrey Memorial Hospital’s current E.R. The Foundation’s $15-million campaign will ensure the new Emergency Centre is state-of-the-art. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2008.
 

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For more information or interviews, contact:
Jason Howe
Public Affairs Director
Surrey Memorial Hospital Foundation
604-585-5666 ext 8284
cell: 604-613-6873
jason.howe[at]fraserhealth.ca
www.smhfoundation.com