Mission Statement, 2018
To create a culturally sensitive care community that supports the quality of life for our residents.
Our History
The Victoria Chinatown Care Centre was built on the former site of the Chinese Hospital and operates on a 99-year lease from the City of Victoria granted in 1981. The Victoria Chinatown Cafe Society (VCCS) organized and incorporated in September 1980 with the objective of constructing a Care Facility within the Chinese community. Through the efforts of the VCCS Board of Directors, the City of Victoria, and the Province of B.C., the current Victoria Chinatown Care Centre officially opened in 1982. Since that time, we have prided ourselves on being able to provide safe, culturally sensitive 24-hour resident-centred care for our residents, the majority of whom are of Chinese origin. We recently confirmed accreditation and are a non-profit registered charity.
Society Directors
Griffin Chen, President
Griffin recently retired from the underground utility section of the engineering department of the City of Victoria, after 34 years of service. As the Senior Utility Planner, a major focus of his work was developing strategic plans for capital projects. He received his education in B.C. at B.C.I.T. and Camosun College, where he studied land surveying and leadership development.
Wilson Louie, Vice-President
Wilson has lived in Victoria for over 50 years: attended the Chinese School, belonged to the Chinatown Lion’s Club Marching Band, is a Director at large of the Yen Wo Temple Society, and is one of the original members of the Wong’s Kung Fu Club. He is currently Site Supervisor at the Royal Jubilee Hospital for the Laboratory Medicine and Pathology Department. He was previously a Volunteer Firefighter in North Saanich and volunteers with youth sports. Recently, he has become a grandfather and with his wife, Diane enjoys spending time with his grandson.
David Lau, Treasurer
David is from Hong Kong, China. He went to Saskatchewan for high school and graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a B. Comm degree. He is a CPA, CA and a CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor). David retired recently from the Office of the Auditor General OAG), BC. While he was working for OAG, his responsibilities primarily focused on Information Technology security assurance. He also taught auditing and accounting courses at Camosun College and facilitated the CPA Education Program. Currently he is a term instructor with Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
Anna Wang, Secretary
Anna is a semi-retired dentist, born in Malaysia, raised in Canada by Shanghainese parents. She graduated from UBC Dentistry in 1981, established a clinic in Duncan, B.C. where she happily practised for over 33 years. Over the years, Anna has led 12 dental missions overseas for charities Poco a Poco and Kindness in Action, providing free dental care to needy people. Locally, she currently also volunteers with ORCCA, a non-profit children’s clinic in Sidney. She especially enjoys her volunteer work with VCCC, where her mother spent her last good years.
John Cheung, Director
Mr Cheung is a graduate of UBC School of Business. Prior to his retirement, he had worked in both the private and public sectors. His experience in the private sector includes banking, retail, real estate and property management. He spent over three decades in the public sector working at the BC Ministry of Health. He was a senior member of the Ministry’s management team. Over the years, he had been responsible for province-wide programs and services such as Acute and Extended Care Programs, Provincial Programs, Tertiary Care Programs, Health Information Resources, Health Data Reporting and Analysis, Information Privacy and Security, eHealth Legislation, MSP Health Practitioners’ Budgets monitoring, Policy and Planning, special technical projects, various provincial and national committees/working groups and community development initiatives.
Sherman Lum, Director
Sherman is a commercial lender with RBC and has been in the financial services industry since 2006. Born and raised in Victoria he remembers fond childhood memories of weekend trips to Chinatown and always walking past the Victoria Chinatown Care Centre. He was elected to the executive committee in 2018 and is committed to providing the highest quality of care for our residents while promoting a professional work environment for our caregivers.
Gayle Chong, Director
Gayle was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta where she built a bookkeeping practice until she decided to get out of the cold climate and moved to the Southern United States in 1988. She built another bookkeeping practice until 2009 when she moved back to Canada to be closer to the family. Since her move back to Canada, she has worked again as an independent bookkeeper for small to medium-size businesses. Gayle joined the board of the Victoria Chinatown Care Foundation in 2010 and the Victoria Chinatown Care Society in 2013. She has been a member of the Victoria Chinatown Lioness Club for six years and currently is the co-treasurer.
Ellen Fung, Director
Ellen was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to Canada in 1991. She has diplomas in Business Studies and Administrative Management from South West London College and has been an Insurance and Financial Advisor for over 25 years. Ellen has extensive community and volunteer experience and has served on the boards of the Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association and the Chinatown Lioness Club.
Frank Kung, Director
Frank immigrated to Canada in 1970. He opened the first Dim Sum restaurant in Victoria. Frank is currently serving as a Director of the Victoria Chinese Community Services Centre. Before retiring, he worked for B. C. Ferries for 37 years as a Deck Officer, Training Officer for Safety, Firefighting, Damage/Crowd Control, and was a member of the Human Rights Committee. He also served as the B. C. Ferry and Marine Worker’s Union at the Swartz Bay Terminal.
Julia Lacy, Director
Julia was born in Hong Kong to Chinese and British parents. She has degrees in Computer Science and Anthropology, worked for the provincial and federal government as well as a local non-profit organization. She has been a member of various service organizations and would like to be able to serve the local community and reconnect more with her Chinese heritage.
Daniel Hsu., Director
Daniel is a local realtor. Originally from Taipei, Taiwan, he speaks English, Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese. He has served in the local community through various volunteer work, including helping out with the elderly at Luther Court senior centre. He is currently serving as an elder at the Victoria Chinese Alliance Church.
Leo Xiaopeng Yuan, Director
Leo, came from Beijing China in 2001 to study electrical engineering and subsequently worked as an engineer in various technology companies. The west coast weather and culture brought him to Victoria to complete a Juris Doctor degree, start a family and practice real estate development law. He volunteers at an immigration society and is serving on a local business board to connect local businesses with one another.
Staff Leadership Team
Director of Care – Kate Corbett
Kate Corbett has worked in a variety of clinical areas including Acute Care, Community Health, Long Term Care, and Outpatient clinics. Prior to joining the VCCC Kate worked for Island Health for 7 years, most recently in Quality and Medication Safety. Kate has a BA from Pennsylvania State University in Political Science, a BS from Regis College in Nursing and an MS in Nursing Administration from Western Carolina University. Before becoming a Nurse, Kate spent 10 years working in IT for Fidelity Investments, KPMG and Hitachi.
Manager Care Services –Fanny Vermes
Fanny has worked in healthcare for more that two decades, as an RN, CCRN, CNL as well as other leadership roles, including faculty of BCIT’s Critical Care specialty program. She has a passion for values-based leadership and loves to focus on helping teams be at their best. When not working, you can find her creating something delicious in the kitchen, or doing adventurous activities outdoors with her family.
Clinical Resource Nurse– Andrew MacDonald
Andrew comes from Halifax, Nova Scotia and received his education at the University of Maine at Fort Kent. He has worked in nursing for fourteen years, beginning at the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre. He came to Victoria and VCC in 2018 as an RN and was recently promoted to Clinical Resource Nurse.
Staff
Twenty-four-hour care for 31 residents is provided by 56 employees and additional professionals:
- 6 Nurses & LPNs,
- 17 Health Care Workers,
- 3 Housekeepers,
- 1 Activity Facilitator
- 3 Cooks
- 18 Casuals
- 9 Professional Contractors
Additional Professionals:
- Occupational Therapy: Engage Therapy
Melissa Lee, Occupational Therapist - Lauren Gudavicius
- Kelsea Hughes, Rehab Assistant
- Diet Specialist
Tiffany Rusch, Dietician - Social Worker
Susan Ko - Music Therapist
Leslie Pite - Recreational Therapist
Kelly Legault
- Others:
- Michael Kasprzik – Sole Purpose (Foot Care Nurse)
- Kendrick Chung – Finance
- Tyler Petersen – Maintenance Advisor
- LowellAnn Fuglsang – Admin Support and Website Developer
- Marianne MacDonald – Payroll Coordinator