VGH wing renamed in honour of Leon Judah Blackmore after $18M donation

Vancouver General Hospital's Centennial Pavilion will be renamed after the late Vancouver developer Leon Judah Blackmore, following a $18.4 million donation to the VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation from the foundation he started.

VGH and UBC say the money will be put toward a cardiology diagnostic centre, men's health, a hybrid operating room and a sleep disorders program.

"[Blackmore] had the utmost respect for our work, and he made it his mission to help improve patient care through funding research and initiatives that would truly make a difference," said Dr. Jaap Hamburger, a cardiologist with Vancouver Coastal Health,in a statement.

Barbara Grantham, president and CEO of the VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation, said the number, 18.4 million, has personal significance for Blackmore.

Blackmore was a Vancouver real estate developer who passed away in 2015. But he was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family in Poland, eventually fleeing the Holocaust and settling in Canada.

According to a a news releasefrom Vancouver Coastal Health, the Hebrew word for life is "chai" and is associated with the number 18, so giving gifts in multiples of 18 is a symbolic "gift of life."

"This gift will make a difference in the lives of our patients," Grantham said.