Big boost for hospital

Photo: Contributed

Anthony and Joan Vant Geloof of Penticton company Starline Enterprises have given Penticton Regional Hospital a big boost.

The family is donating $250,000 to help provide medical equipment for the new patient care tower at PRH.

The Vant Geloofs were both raised in Holland, and met after moving to Canada in the mid‐1950s. They have been married for 60 years.

They soon built a new life, but not without some hard times along the way. For a while, they lived in a converted chicken coop on a cousin’s farm.

Anthony Vant Geloof recalls how a neighbour offered to loan the family some money to buy a house of their own.

“I think that’s what changed the whole thing for us – a place to live decently,” he said. “That was the turning point for everybody.”

The Vant Geloofs’ business grew, and they moved to Penticton in 1989. They still work closely with their sons, Bill and John, who are equal partners in the company.

They have been longtime supporters of the hospital over the years, especially the children's ward.

“In the spring of 1973, my little five‐year‐old sister died right in front of our house in Langley. She fell off a bike and hit her head,” Bill recalled.

Later, the infant child of his younger brother passed away.

“So the children’s ward has been like a special place for our family,” Bill said. “We know what it’s like for other people to have to deal with that, too.”

Construction of the PRH expansion is set to begin in the spring of 2016 and be completed by late 2019.