BCBusiness

P 48 BCBusiness february 2016 Paul Myers did not want any "hullabaloo" made over his $25-million donation to a new patient care centre at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. The 82-year-old owner of Keith Plumbing and Heating doesn't like speaking in public. But Judy Savage, president of the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation, convinced him that a press conference about his gift—the largest-ever individual donation to a B.C. hospital foundation— would help Lions Gate draw attention to its fundraising cam- paign. Myers considers Savage "a terri'c woman," and reluc- tantly agreed. So there he was inside a large room at the hospital on a Thursday morning last Septem- ber, facing a throng of report- ers wielding television cameras and tape recorders, delivering a speech that Savage had written for him. He talked about wanting to give back to the community where he had lived for 80 years, and at one point was overcome with tears. Savage had suggested that he park his yellow company truck at the hospital so it was vis- ible for the cameras. "When the nightmare was over, I climbed into my truck and headed back to the oŽce," he recalls from the corner suite of Keith Plumbing in North Vancouver. "Then she phoned and said, 'Sorry, Paul, you've got to get back here: CBC was late and they want to make a live television broadcast.'" Myers dutifully went back to his truck, drove to the hospital and got wired for the cameras all over again. "I'm standing out there and I thought, 'What the hell have I done to myself?'" There was no similar ques- tion about what Paul Myers did for Lions Gate. The impact of the unexpected gift from this self- described "little plumber" was immediate: for weeks after the press conference, people came into the foundation's oŽce and made donations, crediting Myers as the inspiration. Many people even told Savage that they would encourage their children to become plumb- ers. Myers's $25 million is the širst instalment toward a new $100-million patient care facility at the hospital. It's easy to see why Myers— whose company has worked on many hospitals, including additions at Lions Gate—chose a brand-new building as the target of his philanthropy. He intimately understands the problems of aging infrastruc- ture that the current patient tower, now 55 years old, su§ers. There is no air conditioning on most ¨oors, and it has as many as four patients in a room, mak- ing the spread of infection very difšicult to contain. The new modern facility will be the third phase of a redevelopment plan; phase one of the plan was the recently completed Greta and Robert H.N. Ho Psychiatry and Education Centre (the Hope Centre), while phase two will be a new outpatient care centre and atrium. (The existing tower has been renamed the Paul Myers Tower, with that name transfer- ring to the new one as well.) According to Savage, very large donations like Myers's are more frequent in recent years—a trend she attributes to an aging demographic that has accumu- lated wealth and wants to leave a legacy. In 2005, Jimmy Pattison donated $5 million for a new emergency department at Lions Gate, and in 2011 Robert and Greta Ho donated $10 million to establish the Hope Centre. But Myers's gift came out of the blue. "If you had asked people a year ago who they thought might donate $25 million to Lions Gate Hospital," says Savage, "I don't think anybody would have men- tioned Paul Myers." Savage says she was 'rst con- tacted by Myers's 'nancial advi- sor, who told her that his client wanted to make a signišicant donation. Action came swiftly: about a year later, Myers was in front of the cameras. The donation is contingent on cer- tain milestones—including the completion of a concept brief that Vancouver Coastal Health will provide the Ministry of Health (with information such as where the tower will be located and how much it will cost)—but Savage says that Myers's gift has fast-tracked development by sev- eral years. If all goes well, con- struction could start by 2020. While not known to the gen- eral public, Myers is described by many in the construction indus- try as an elder statesman—with a sterling reputation for both his company and his advocacy efforts for training and work- ing conditions. He bought Keith Plumbing and Heating in 1970 and built it from its original focus on the single-family residential market into one of the largest mechanical contractors in B.C. The company has completed several complex institutional projects, including the patient care centre addition at Victoria's Royal Jubilee Hospital (a $46- million contract), the Chevron expansion at Vancouver Interna- tional Airport ($16 million) and the RCMP E Division headquar- ters in Surrey ($34.5 million). In 1986, Myers started Keith Panel Systems, which designs, fabri- cates and installs architectural and rainscreen wall systems. He also runs a number of other real estate and investment compa- nies. Last year, Myers's compa- nies employed a combined 327 people and had gross revenues of $95 million. Myers has been recognized with countless industry awards, including a Lifetime Achieve- ment Award from the Vancouver Regional Construction Asso- ciation in 2006, an Industry In 2005, Jimmy Pattison donated $5 mil- lion for a new emergency department at Lions Gate, and in 2011 Robert and Greta Ho donated $10 million for the establishment of the Hope Centre. But Myers's gift came out of the blue. "If you had asked people a year ago who they thought might donate $25 million to Lions Gate Hospital," says Savage, "I don't think anybody would have mentioned Paul Myers" Jimmy Pattison Robert + Greta Ho

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