John Thomson's I Didn't Know That!

I have been quite ill for the last few weeks and didn’t know quite what was wrong. Cold, flu, coughing from my boot tops. All the things you don’t want to happen when you’re on dialysis. It leaves you so weak and tired, but things are on the mend and positive.

It has been quite a year.

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Across the nation, companies involved in the healthcare industry are moving into national organizations and this is the latest one in the Okanagan to make such a new move for their future and expansion in the years to come.

Pinnacle Physiotherapy’s three Kelowna and West Kelowna-based clinics have now joined Canada’s most respected network of healthcare professionals, Centric Health.

Pinnacle, long recognized as the region’s premiere provider of physiotherapy care by serving a wide range of clientele including some of the country’s leading amateur and professional athletes, is now a partner in Centric’s nationwide group of healthcare service providers.

“Centric’s vision is to become Canada's premier healthcare company with a complete range of innovative and whole-life solutions centred on patients. Our vision for Pinnacle mirrors Centric’s commitment to healthcare excellence. Joining the Centric family was a natural fit for us,” says Pinnacle Physiotherapy’s Randy Goodman.

“Already we’re being asked if this will make a difference to the services we offer, and our answer is yes. We’ve always prided ourselves on providing a level of patient care that far exceeds industry standards. Now, backed by the depth, experience and resources that Centric has built their reputation upon, we’ll be able to provide even better care than ever before.”

From Pharmacies to Clinical Rehabilitation Centres, Centric Health has woven together a national community of professional partners from coast-to-coast, and now Pinnacle joins that ‘A’ list of healthcare providers.

“At its core,“ says Randy, “Centric is about putting the patient first. It’s a company passionately dedicated, from top to bottom, to the well-being of the people in the communities it serves.  Centric’s also an innovator in the industry, leading the way when it comes to pioneering progressive, integrated health and whole-life health solutions.”

“Every one of our employees is excited about joining the Centric family and we can see only better things coming from the partnership in the future, both for our company and the community as a whole. For our patients, it’s everything good about our clinic, plus now a whole lot more. Basically, the way we look at it, it’s Pinnacle version 2.0.“

Pinnacle will continue to operate its three clinics in the Capital News Centre on Gordon Drive, on Richter Street and in West Kelowna on Elliott Road.

I have known Randy Goodman since he moved to the marketplace with his first clinic in the 1990’s when he opened in Westbank.

Expectation is very high for positive development of the company in the future, and the growth of the local operation was important to that future and the ability to serve their long list of clients with the best in service and health care. It doesn’t matter whether the athletes are elite class or pros home for some personal training, everyone is treated as “the client.”

They care . . .

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The staff at Capri Insurance Services was recently individually surveyed by the Great Places To Work Institute Canada for the purpose of determining the 100 best workplaces in Canada with 50 to 999 employees. 



Capri has close to 300 employees in 10 branches throughout the Interior of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nunavut, Yukon and Northwest Territories and has an affiliated office in Aurora which is licensed in Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

Capri Insurance was ranked #23 on the Best Workplaces in Canada, medium companies at the awards dinner April 18th in Toronto. It placed in the top 100 for the last three years and has been rising steadily in the rankings every year.



This is a substantial accomplishment for an insurance broker that started in Kelowna in March 1975 with six employees and a handful of clients (over 100,000 now).

More than forty per cent of the employees have been with the company for forty years or more.

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Rumours and Things . . .

There is a major change taking place in the development industry in Kelowna as Mark Stober leaves his family business, Stober Construction, to become a partner in The Mission Group development company.

Stober Construction is currently building the sixth high-rise tower at the Landmark Square complex in Kelowna...

If you have been driving by on Harvey at Gordon these last few months and looked over at the Accent Inns property you have seen a lot of action as the hotel chain refaced their Kelowna location.

It is one of the last two hotels to be remodeled in the five chain Accent Inns. The chain is headquartered in Victoria. Started in 1986 by Terry Farmer where he opened his first hotel and followed with the opening of the Kelowna property June of that year.

The makeover is exceptional and the new colours are outstanding.  According to Hotel Manager Mike Greenbalgh, there is a few more weeks of work before everything is finished.

The site has always been known for its hanging flower baskets and with the new remodel that won’t change, it will just get larger and more attractive.

Can’t wait to see that display.

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According to whoever does this kind of research the increase in online dating sites has doubled in the last year.

I guess that means we’re getting older?