Langley Memorial Hospital was built in 1965 for a community of 20,000 people. The Langley of today looks nothing like that, and the hospital, according to the Langley Community Health & Hospital Foundation, is feeling it.
The foundation launched a $25-million fundraising campaign last week, targeting equipment upgrades across diagnostics, surgery, emergency care, maternity, and long-term care at Langley Memorial. Breast health is the first focus, timed to launch ahead of Mother's Day.
The foundation says the hospital regularly operates at 30 per cent over capacity, with admissions, inpatient days, and births all rising in recent years. Diagnostic and surgical equipment, it says, has aged past its expected lifespan, leading to delays, cancellations, and patients travelling outside the community for care. Fraser Health represents 40 per cent of B.C.'s population but receives 22 per cent of provincial health care funding, according to the foundation, and Langley Memorial has 1.1 hospital beds per 1,000 residents — well below the Canadian average of 2.5.
"Langley Memorial Hospital is caring for a population 10 times the size it was built to serve," said foundation executive director Heather Scott. "Aging equipment and rising demand are stretching care beyond its limits. This campaign is about catching up."
The campaign's first project aims to raise $2.1 million to upgrade the mammography clinic with 3D mammography technology, allowing the hospital to offer both screening and diagnostic mammography in one location for the first time. About 9,000 women in the region rely on Langley Memorial for breast cancer screening and diagnosis each year, the foundation says. The upgrade would also add three operating room tables for mastectomy and reconstruction surgery, along with pharmacy, lab, and imaging equipment.
For foundation board member Chris Ruschienski, the campaign is personal. He and his twin brother started Twins Cancer Fundraising after losing their mother to breast cancer as teenagers, and are holding a fundraising event called Jamestown on July 11 in support of the campaign.
"Shorter wait times and clear, fast diagnosis will translate to less anxiety for patients and families," he said. "For many, it could mean detecting cancer earlier, when outcomes are better and treatment options broader."
