The medical community and KGH staff are once again clipping into their bikes to raise funds for much needed medical equipment for our hospital. The KGH Foundation and TD Bank Financial Group’s Annual Bike ‘n Braai is returning on Sunday, June 10^th. 

“The TD Bank Financial Group is proud to be the Title Sponsor for the 8th Annual KGHF Bike ‘n Braai in support of improved healthcare and the dedicated healthcare professionals in our community”, says Gordon Fawcett, CFA at TD Waterhouse Private Investment Counsel. 

The ride departs from Strathcona Park at 9:30am and wraps up at the Thoracic Surgeons Heritage House on Pandosy Street with a family Braai (Afrikaans for BBQ).  With three route lengths and free admission for children to the BBQ, this is a great way to support the community as well as get out for an afternoon of active family fun.

New this year, the route will include a wine tasting pit-stop at The View winery and will be led by Evan Guthrie – cross-country mountain bike racer on the Canadian National Team.  In addition to prizes for the poker run and hill climb race, there will also be a draw for an iPad. 

Funds raised from the event will go to the Area of Greatest Need fund to purchase equipment and patient care items that will improve the level of care provided at the Kelowna General Hospital.  “The support given by local healthcare professionals is outstanding and they truly are role models for our community” says Doug Rankmore, CEO of the KGH Foundation. 

Many thanks to the new and returning sponsors that make this event possible:  TD Bank Financial Group, Kelowna Radiology, Dialogue for Change, Lakeshore Vein & Esthetics, Pharmasave Glenmore, Dr. Darren Buschel, and Image One MRI.  Local bikes shops (Fresh Air Concept, ChainLine Cycle, and Kelowna Cycle) have also stepped up to provide nutritional and mechanical support for the riders.

Registration is now open - be sure to order your jersey/shorts set before they sell out!

The medical community and KGH staff are once again clipping into their bikes to raise funds for much needed medical equipment for our hospital. The KGH Foundation and TD Bank Financial Group’s Annual Bike ‘n Braai is returning on Sunday, June 10^th. 

“The TD Bank Financial Group is proud to be the Title Sponsor for the 8th Annual KGHF Bike ‘n Braai in support of improved healthcare and the dedicated healthcare professionals in our community”, says Gordon Fawcett, CFA at TD Waterhouse Private Investment Counsel. 

The ride departs from Strathcona Park at 9:30am and wraps up at the Thoracic Surgeons Heritage House on Pandosy Street with a family Braai (Afrikaans for BBQ).  With three route lengths and free admission for children to the BBQ, this is a great way to support the community as well as get out for an afternoon of active family fun.

New this year, the route will include a wine tasting pit-stop at The View winery and will be led by Evan Guthrie – cross-country mountain bike racer on the Canadian National Team.  In addition to prizes for the poker run and hill climb race, there will also be a draw for an iPad. 

Funds raised from the event will go to the Area of Greatest Need fund to purchase equipment and patient care items that will improve the level of care provided at the Kelowna General Hospital.  “The support given by local healthcare professionals is outstanding and they truly are role models for our community” says Doug Rankmore, CEO of the KGH Foundation. 

Many thanks to the new and returning sponsors that make this event possible:  TD Bank Financial Group, Kelowna Radiology, Dialogue for Change, Lakeshore Vein & Esthetics, Pharmasave Glenmore, Dr. Darren Buschel, and Image One MRI.  Local bikes shops (Fresh Air Concept, ChainLine Cycle, and Kelowna Cycle) have also stepped up to provide nutritional and mechanical support for the riders.

Registration is now open - be sure to order your jersey/shorts set before they sell out!

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."