Thanks to Sharon Sheppard and Jane Hoffman, an extensive tour of the new facility at KGH was set up for our office. We had so many interested REALTORS® we had to set up two separate tours. Our hosts were Natalie Walstrom, Senior Development Manager and Doug Rankmore, Chief Executive Officer of the KGH Foundation. The history of the property was very interesting.
About Kelowna General Hospital
The Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) is in the Okanagan health service area and is one of two Interior Health tertiary referral hospitals. KGH offers high-level, specialty medical care including 24 hour emergency and trauma services, ambulatory and outpatient clinics, and diagnostic or paramedical services.
Specialty services include adult and adolescent psychiatry, outpatient nutrition, and patient care quality officers. Additionally, the Province of British Columbia has identified Kelowna General Hospital as one of five sites in BC for upgraded cardiac services, including angioplasty done since 2010 and cardiac surgery since 2012.
In 2011, Kelowna General Hospital treated 60,000 in Emergency and 55,000 in Ambulatory Care, completed 32,000 surgeries and admitted 20,000 inpatients, while delivering 1,600 babies.
About the KGH Foundation http://kghfoundation.com
Since its inception in 1978, the KGH Foundation has generated over $57 million in revenues and has granted more than $38 million to Kelowna General Hospital and other health facilities in the Central Okanagan. In its first year, the Foundation received $11,560 in donations – it now holds over $11 million in donor designated and endowed assets.
KGH Foundation 2011-2012 Annual Report reported:
• $ 4,662,848 total funds raised by the KGH Foundation
• $ 2,663,925 funds donated to the Kelowna General Hospital and associated facilities
• $ 876,887 contributed by the Foundation’s Auxiliaries
• 3,640 individual gifts provided to the Foundation
• 142 individuals who have a current legacy gift to the Foundation
• 14 fundraising events were held
There are four major projects filling more than 622,000 square feet of space. Nearly $703 million in investments. Just One of the anesthetist machine cost $95,000 and they need 18 of them.
These numbers describe the major expansion going on at KGH—the Centennial Tower, including the heli pad, the Clinical Support Building, the UBC Clinical Academic Campus, and the Interior Heart and Surgical Centre (IHSC).
What do all these stats mean?
For starters it means a major increase in space. To give you an idea of how much space this is, imagine a typical Walmart, Home Depot, Rona, Golf Town and Costco and add them together. That is how much new floor space is being added at KGH.
What are the benefits for residents?
It’s a long list including such things as a new ophthalmology department, five new operating rooms, as well as a new and expanded renal department with 18 dialysis stations.
Here are some other benefits to help put all the expansion at KGH in perspective.
The greatly expanded emergency department will be four times the size of the current one. Two fully-equipped trauma bays are larger than the current space, with a third is now outfitted. The tour was going to show us that but they were all being used.
Another benefit will be the highest level of medical care ever seen in the Interior now that IHSC is open.
The IHSC is an integrated critical care facility giving about 1,600 cardiac patients a year, top-notch care close to home. This will also greatly reduce stress on loved ones.
The state-of-the-art surgical centre helps with the recruitment and retention of highly qualified professionals. Camera feeds allow the surgeons and nurses to view microscopically if necessary. They can also have outside feeds to other specialists or for educational purposes. Absolutely amazing – we felt like we were in a TV drama.
The cardiac transition plan is already underway with angioplasty procedures being performed in the Strathcona Building at KGH – but we saw the new facility they are preparing to move to shortly.
Another benefit will be the training of new doctors right here in Kelowna. The UBC Clinical Academic Campus at KGH is now complete and students are enrolled. This is the fourth campus of UBC’s Faculty of Medicine.
Now, students from Kelowna and throughout the Okanagan can study medicine closer to home. It also means students from other parts of British Columbia, other provinces and other countries will discover the Okanagan while studying here. Let’s hope many of them will want to stay here and practice medicine after they graduate.
We are such a blessed community and so many more lives are saved because of the access we have to this state of art facility.
About Kelowna General Hospital
The Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) is in the Okanagan health service area and is one of two Interior Health tertiary referral hospitals. KGH offers high-level, specialty medical care including 24 hour emergency and trauma services, ambulatory and outpatient clinics, and diagnostic or paramedical services.Specialty services include adult and adolescent psychiatry, outpatient nutrition, and patient care quality officers. Additionally, the Province of British Columbia has identified Kelowna General Hospital as one of five sites in BC for upgraded cardiac services, including angioplasty done since 2010 and cardiac surgery since 2012.
In 2011, Kelowna General Hospital treated 60,000 in Emergency and 55,000 in Ambulatory Care, completed 32,000 surgeries and admitted 20,000 inpatients, while delivering 1,600 babies.
About the KGH Foundation http://kghfoundation.com
Since its inception in 1978, the KGH Foundation has generated over $57 million in revenues and has granted more than $38 million to Kelowna General Hospital and other health facilities in the Central Okanagan. In its first year, the Foundation received $11,560 in donations – it now holds over $11 million in donor designated and endowed assets.
KGH Foundation 2011-2012 Annual Report reported:
• $ 4,662,848 total funds raised by the KGH Foundation
• $ 2,663,925 funds donated to the Kelowna General Hospital and associated facilities
• $ 876,887 contributed by the Foundation’s Auxiliaries
• 3,640 individual gifts provided to the Foundation• 142 individuals who have a current legacy gift to the Foundation
• 14 fundraising events were held
There are four major projects filling more than 622,000 square feet of space. Nearly $703 million in investments. Just One of the anesthetist machine cost $95,000 and they need 18 of them.
These numbers describe the major expansion going on at KGH—the Centennial Tower, including the heli pad, the Clinical Support Building, the UBC Clinical Academic Campus, and the Interior Heart and Surgical Centre (IHSC).
What do all these stats mean?
For starters it means a major increase in space. To give you an idea of how much space this is, imagine a typical Walmart, Home Depot, Rona, Golf Town and Costco and add them together. That is how much new floor space is being added at KGH.What are the benefits for residents?
It’s a long list including such things as a new ophthalmology department, five new operating rooms, as well as a new and expanded renal department with 18 dialysis stations.
Here are some other benefits to help put all the expansion at KGH in perspective.
The greatly expanded emergency department will be four times the size of the current one. Two fully-equipped trauma bays are larger than the current space, with a third is now outfitted. The tour was going to show us that but they were all being used.Another benefit will be the highest level of medical care ever seen in the Interior now that IHSC is open.
The IHSC is an integrated critical care facility giving about 1,600 cardiac patients a year, top-notch care close to home. This will also greatly reduce stress on loved ones.
The state-of-the-art surgical centre helps with the recruitment and retention of highly qualified professionals. Camera feeds allow the surgeons and nurses to view microscopically if necessary. They can also have outside feeds to other specialists or for educational purposes. Absolutely amazing – we felt like we were in a TV drama.The cardiac transition plan is already underway with angioplasty procedures being performed in the Strathcona Building at KGH – but we saw the new facility they are preparing to move to shortly.Another benefit will be the training of new doctors right here in Kelowna. The UBC Clinical Academic Campus at KGH is now complete and students are enrolled. This is the fourth campus of UBC’s Faculty of Medicine.
Now, students from Kelowna and throughout the Okanagan can study medicine closer to home. It also means students from other parts of British Columbia, other provinces and other countries will discover the Okanagan while studying here. Let’s hope many of them will want to stay here and practice medicine after they graduate.
When the going gets "Tough"...just call me.
Susan Tough
