A new emergency department and a new executive director in the same month.
Eagle Ridge Hospital is continuing to see a shift in the workforce in hopes of providing more efficient healthcare to the Tri-Cities, and its foundation (ERHF) believes it can help accomplish just that with Judy Zhu at the helm.
She's been tapped as the ERHF's next executive director; she took over the position at the end of March.
In a statement to the Tri-City News today (July 25), Zhu says she's passionate about empowering supporters having led fundraisers for many years with the Canadian Cancer Society.
"I have enjoyed being a part of this extraordinary community and am honoured to be a part of Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation. I am looking forward to continuing to build on this incredible legacy."
Zhu adds she's a longtime resident of the Tri-Cities and believes she understands the importance of advocacy for better access to health and emergency services.
According to the foundation, one of Zhu's first tasks is to continue a $2-million campaign to upgrade Eagle Ridge Hospital's medical imaging equipment.
The certified fundraising executive's (CFRE) résumé includes 14 years in the non-profit sector, including management and public relations, which the ERHF explains will help her guide the organization's capital campaigns, programs and operations.
She recently helped garner $30 million to complete Vancouver's new centre for cancer prevention and support in November 2021 as the Canadian Cancer Society's leadership director.
Zhu officially replaced Charlene Giovannetti-King, who retired in February after spending more than a decade as the ERHF's executive director.
The foundation tripled in size during her tenure, and was responsible for the fundraising efforts to expand Eagle Ridge Hospital's new emergency department — a two-part project that began in 2019 and was declared finished on July 5 by ERHF board chair Tom Morton.
"Charlene led us through the $5 million capital campaign to expand the Emergency Department, showing what the Foundation and donors from the Tri-Cities, Belcarra and Anmore are capable of achieving," Morton says.
"There was a level of nervousness that maybe we couldn't actually do it.... Our community did it faster than we thought," he told the Tri-City News during the completion announcement, noting more than 4,200 donors — businesses and individuals — raised the funds needed.
The rest of the funds came from the provincial government via Fraser Health at $32.5 million for a total project cost of $37.5 million.
Zhu holds a masters in business administration from Simon Fraser University (SFU) and is a certified fundraising executive (CFRE).
Since 1982, the foundation has collected more than $40 million for the hospital.
For more information, you can visit the ERHF's website.
