Photo: Contributed

Charles and Irene Armstrong.

A man involved in the early planning stages for the Penticton Regional Hospital expansion has now given a donation to bring it closer to the finish line. 

Charles Armstrong was a member of the founding Interior Health board in 2001 which first explored a vision for the PRH as a full-service acute care hospital to serve the entire South Okanagan and Similkameen. 

"To see the plan become a reality is really very satisfying,” Armstrong said. 

Armstrong and his wife gave an unspecified major amount to the $20-million campaign to provide medical equipment for the project. His wife Irene passed away June 12 shortly after their 66th wedding anniversary. 

Armstrong and Irene raised three children, two of whom are currently residents of Penticton. He spent numerous years deeply involved in the local community, chairing the city's newly-formed independent economic development commission in the 1980s, serving as a Penticton Art Gallery board member, co-founding the Community Foundation of the South Okanagan Similkameen, receiving the Queen's Jubilee Medal in 2012 and more. 

"I think I've enjoyed a very interesting and personally rewarding career," Armstrong said. 

Construction of Phase 2 of the PRH expansion, including a major upgrade to the Emergency Department. is now getting underway and will be completed in 2021.