Kelowna

Photo: Ragnar Haagen

Dr. Robert Halpenny, President and CEO of Interior Health speaks at the unveiling ceremony at KGH on Nov. 13 2012

The Kelowna General Hospital unveiled its donor recognition wall this morning, which supported the construction of their new Centennial building.

The hospital’s “Take Care, Take Part” campaign hoped to generate $6-million in fundraising, but they exceeded that goal and raised $7.5-million.

“We have a new emergency department that’s quadrupled in size with separate zones to better treat patients, a streamlined ambulatory care department that brings all day surgeries together into one area and a state of the art lecture area to teach the doctors and nurses of tomorrow,” announced Karen Borring–Olson, who is KGH Foundation Chair, and chair of the campaign.

Since the Centennial building opened on May 27 of this year, its helipad has flown in 57 patients -- all of whom were suffering from live threatening situations.

“Its all about people,” says Dr. Robert Halpenny, President and CEO of Interior Health.

“We can have buildings like this, but if we don’t supply our staff with state of the art technology, we’re not going to attract the newest and the brightest and the best.”

The KGH foundation is an independent, volunteer driven, charitable organization committed to enhancing the delivery of healthcare to the patients and its associated facilities.