Billionaire Canadian auto dealer Jim Pattison has donated $30 million to a hospital in British Columbia.
The Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation called the donation “transformational.”
The money will be focused on the Acute Care Tower — to be named the Jim Pattison Acute Care Tower — at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster.
The hospital, which serves one third of the province’s population, is undergoing a $1.49-billion redevelopment.
With construction set to be complete in 2025, the Acute Care Tower is the crown jewel of the project.
Thousands have donated to the cause, but none bigger than Pattison’s.
“We are honoured to join the thousands of other donors who have already stepped up to show their support to ensure that its legacy of exceptional care in our province is sustainable for future generations,” the 94-year-old Pattison said in a statement.
The new Acute Care Tower will include an interventional super floor featuring operating rooms and suites for interventional radiology and cardiology, a new emergency department with its own imaging unit, and new larger maternity, pediatric, and neonatal intensive care units, as well as multiple floors for acute and critical care patients.
Starting with one auto dealership in 1961, the Jim Pattison Group has grown to be the second largest privately-held company in Canada, with more than 51,000 employees worldwide, and annual sales of $12.7 billion. Pattison is the chairman, CEO, and sole owner of the company.
The Jim Pattison Auto Group division of the company has 28 new-vehicle dealerships in Western Canada, representing 16 automotive brands.
The Jim Pattison Group of companies spans automotive, advertising, media, agricultural equipment, food and beverage, entertainment, exporting, financial, real estate, and periodical distribution industries.
