The Celebrity Tennis Classic & Bocce Ball Tournament has been raising funds for Cardiac Care at the Kelowna General Hospital for eleven years.  The event is hosted by Walley & Marietta Lightbody and is a fun-filled weekend of tennis for all levels of players (or bocce ball for those less coordinated) and a fantastic fundraising dinner.

The Tennis Tournament is a great community event that everyone can get involved with and has contributed over $600,000 for Cardiology since its inception.  Life-saving medical equipment including pediatric cardiac/respiratory monitors, defibrillators, pacemakers, bedside monitors and cardiac ultrasounds has been purchased from previous years’ proceeds.    

This year we are targeting a Neo–Natal Cardiac Monitor which allows the staff to watch without disturbing the infant. The monitor tells when the heart rate is stable and the infant is getting enough oxygen and is breathing correctly. In addition the Ward requires one or more Event Monitors. This is a new procedure for KGH. It is put on the chest of a child with unknown heart issues and it tells you what is going on. This will save great time and expense as the infant currently has to go to Children`s Hospital in Vancouver for this procedure.

This year we are delighted to have chosen Joachim Nierfeld as our honouree, an individual with an intense passion for tennis and who continues to do great things for the game.

Joachim was born in Essen, Germany and started to play tennis at the age of 12.  After achieving terrific success while competing across Europe before moving to Canada where he has captured a variety of provincial and national tennis titles in both singles and doubles play.

Over the years Joachim has also had the opportunity to share his love for the game through his coaching activities.  As Head Pro at Global Fitness Center, he has developed a very impressive high-performance junior tennis program.  Joachim has also held several tennis leadership roles with fine efforts to develop the game including positions with Tennis BC and presently as the regional director for the Okanagan.  He is also tournament director of the popular Kelowna Futures tournament.

As a player, coach and leader, Joachim has truly made his mark on the game of tennis in Kelowna.  We feel very fortunate to have him as part of our tennis community and we’re very proud to have him as our honouree for 2013 at our special fundraising event.

The Celebrity Tennis Classic & Bocce Ball Tournament has been raising funds for Cardiac Care at the Kelowna General Hospital for eleven years.  The event is hosted by Walley & Marietta Lightbody and is a fun-filled weekend of tennis for all levels of players (or bocce ball for those less coordinated) and a fantastic fundraising dinner.

The Tennis Tournament is a great community event that everyone can get involved with and has contributed over $600,000 for Cardiology since its inception.  Life-saving medical equipment including pediatric cardiac/respiratory monitors, defibrillators, pacemakers, bedside monitors and cardiac ultrasounds has been purchased from previous years’ proceeds.    

This year we are targeting a Neo–Natal Cardiac Monitor which allows the staff to watch without disturbing the infant. The monitor tells when the heart rate is stable and the infant is getting enough oxygen and is breathing correctly. In addition the Ward requires one or more Event Monitors. This is a new procedure for KGH. It is put on the chest of a child with unknown heart issues and it tells you what is going on. This will save great time and expense as the infant currently has to go to Children`s Hospital in Vancouver for this procedure.

This year we are delighted to have chosen Joachim Nierfeld as our honouree, an individual with an intense passion for tennis and who continues to do great things for the game.

Joachim was born in Essen, Germany and started to play tennis at the age of 12.  After achieving terrific success while competing across Europe before moving to Canada where he has captured a variety of provincial and national tennis titles in both singles and doubles play.

Over the years Joachim has also had the opportunity to share his love for the game through his coaching activities.  As Head Pro at Global Fitness Center, he has developed a very impressive high-performance junior tennis program.  Joachim has also held several tennis leadership roles with fine efforts to develop the game including positions with Tennis BC and presently as the regional director for the Okanagan.  He is also tournament director of the popular Kelowna Futures tournament.

As a player, coach and leader, Joachim has truly made his mark on the game of tennis in Kelowna.  We feel very fortunate to have him as part of our tennis community and we’re very proud to have him as our honouree for 2013 at our special fundraising event.

In November 2010, Laurie Anderson found herself at the Kelowna General Hospital being questioned on the recent pain she had been experiencing. 

“Can you walk? Do you have control of all of your bodily functions?” asked Dr. P. Govender.

Anderson was diagnosed with a tumour on her spinal cord, one that was growing daily with a threat of turning her into a paraplegic.

Acting fast, Dr. Govender had Anderson in the operating room four days after diagnosis – the surgery was a success.

“My husband and I now support the KGH Foundation to give back to the medical staff at KGH,” says Anderson.

“Soon after my surgery I said that if I became well enough, I would volunteer my time at KGH as a thank-you for all I had received.”

True to her word, Anderson and her husband Ted now support the KGH Foundation and she has volunteered at the KGH ever since, claiming to had never thought she would have so much fun volunteering at the Hospital’s ‘Perking Lot’.

“Thank-you to Dr. Chayka, Dr. Govender and all the medical staff who literally gave my life back to me. And (thank-you) to Nancy, Sue and all the wonderful volunteers who continue to enrich it.”

A third year medical student from UBCO Vancouver, Gavin Docherty chose medicine because it would give him the opportunity to help people, self learn and provide education to others. Currently in the UBCO Vancouver medical programme, Docherty was one of 11 third-year students sent down to KGH with the hopes of preparing it for new students and working out any kinks before inaugural classes in 2013.

"So far I have really enjoyed KGH, everyone is wonderful to work with and they are very enthusiastic for teaching," says Docherty. "I've been here all week in a medical teaching unit (at the new Centennial Building). Everything is going well and I am really impressed with the facility...the patient rooms are much nicer than I recall in the old hospital during first year." 
As the Medical Society student representative this year, Docherty hopes to become more involved with the KGH Foundation which awarded him with a bursary during his first year of education.

"In my first year the Foundation gave me a bursary, they helped to support my education that way. It's a very expensive course so every little bit is hugely appreciated and helps out a lot," says Docherty.

"I don’t know if many of these students know about the Foundation but I am hoping that this year, as the student representative, that I will be able to help inform my classmates and make them aware of opportunities and events and get them more involved."

Regarding the Foundation’s work, Docherty is happy to see a newer more up-to-date hospital and the improvement of patient care on multiple levels. "Making KGH a teaching hospital might be difficult on a number of levels," he says. “But in the end it should result in better care for people."

Health executive Doug Rankmore may have joined the KGH foundation as CEO only 20 months ago but since 1991 he has been an integral part of the Kelowna community and on a personal level interchanged with the Kelowna General Hospital for the last two decades.

"My wife and I moved to Kelowna in 1991. Both of our kids were born here, both of them had life-changing procedures done here," says Rankmore. "When both of my daughters needed help here, they were served in the old emergency department. It was very small and very cramped, it was somewhat difficult."
Although praising the staff for their great work throughout time spent in the emergency room, he claims the size of the area caused much stress for the family. "One of my daughters who spent a fair amount of time in the department asked of the new building ‘Are there actually going to be rooms where people can go where it will be quieter?’"

Seeing an expansion of the emergency department was of importance to Rankmore and his family. In 2012, they became donors for the Take Care, Take Part Campaign which raised $7.5 million to fund the new state-of-the-art Centennial building.
"My family donated to the Take Care, Take Part campaign, of which the emergency department is now four times the size. It was very important to us and something we really wanted to support."

Prior to joining the KGH Foundation Rankmore served as the CEO of Braintrust Canada Association. He commends the KGH Foundation for the work it has done to improve the community in Kelowna. "My perspective (with the Foundation) is that it is not just about having pride in the Foundation and the Hospital and wanting to make healthcare services better," says Rankmore.

"It’s about having pride in the community and having the best healthcare possible for the community."