For the last 10 years, newly appointed KGH Chief of Staff Dr. Mike Ertel has been a volunteer and donor with the KGH Foundation and is now on their Board of Directors. 

Previously a KGH emergency room physician, Ertel compares the ER services in the newly built Centennial Building to the facility prior."It's always a stressful time for families when they come here, so to have a new building that is clean and bright with quiet rooms, it's nicer for patients," says Ertel. "It's more family-centered. We now have areas where we can put our pediatric patients, where they are not mixed in with the general population in the waiting room or in our department."

Ertel describes KGH as a new world as they take on the role of a high-functioning tertiary centre for both treatment and education. 

State-of-the-art equipment has also been a huge development in the treatment of patients at KGH and is attracting students and some of Canada’s best physicians to Kelowna. 

A large portion of this new equipment has been funded by the KGH Foundation.

"It's a legacy that the community can leave: That all of us, if we get behind the Foundation, can leave our footprint on the institution. There's no downside. Nowadays with technology you have to have state-of-the-art equipment. As the largest tertiary centre in Interior Health we need that equipment. Not only do our patients expect it but they deserve it, quite frankly."

KGH will likely help all members of the community in one way or another, he adds.

"There is only one hospital in town. Odds are you or a family member are going to need it one day, so what better way than to invest in your community than to invest in your hospital, I mean, it is your hospital, right? 

"There's no benefit in it for us, it’s all about patient care."

For the last 10 years, newly appointed KGH Chief of Staff Dr. Mike Ertel has been a volunteer and donor with the KGH Foundation and is now on their Board of Directors. 

Previously a KGH emergency room physician, Ertel compares the ER services in the newly built Centennial Building to the facility prior."It's always a stressful time for families when they come here, so to have a new building that is clean and bright with quiet rooms, it's nicer for patients," says Ertel. "It's more family-centered. We now have areas where we can put our pediatric patients, where they are not mixed in with the general population in the waiting room or in our department."

Ertel describes KGH as a new world as they take on the role of a high-functioning tertiary centre for both treatment and education. 

State-of-the-art equipment has also been a huge development in the treatment of patients at KGH and is attracting students and some of Canada’s best physicians to Kelowna. 

A large portion of this new equipment has been funded by the KGH Foundation.

"It's a legacy that the community can leave: That all of us, if we get behind the Foundation, can leave our footprint on the institution. There's no downside. Nowadays with technology you have to have state-of-the-art equipment. As the largest tertiary centre in Interior Health we need that equipment. Not only do our patients expect it but they deserve it, quite frankly."

KGH will likely help all members of the community in one way or another, he adds.

"There is only one hospital in town. Odds are you or a family member are going to need it one day, so what better way than to invest in your community than to invest in your hospital, I mean, it is your hospital, right? 

"There's no benefit in it for us, it’s all about patient care."

Since arriving in April 2012, KGH Health Services Director John Cabral has contributed as a donor to the KGH Foundation as well as volunteered at their Have a Heart Radiothon. "That was a lot of fun to be part of," says Cabral. "To answer phones and hear people and their stories from the KGH, to hear very positive feedback."

Involved with other charities in the past such as the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Cabral sees the KGH Foundation as one that is enabling the community to have a voice in health care and become a hub for specialized health services. "I see a two-fold benefit in the Foundation's work," says Cabral. "One is in terms of the equipment that they have helped to purchase. They have funded very specialized equipment which there otherwise isn't always dollars to pay for."

With access to specialized equipment, Cabral explains that staff often have to get additional training and education to perform specialized procedures, otherwise it could be years before a particular service or procedure is available in the community. "It brings that kind of technology and type of expertise into your community in a much more rapid fashion, as government funding sometimes struggles  to meet all the needs for new equipment," says Cabral.

The other advantage that Cabral sees is the community being given a voice in terms of affecting the kinds of services available at the hospital.  That’s the wonderful thing about having the Foundation involved, it's not just the hospital, it's the community saying: 'You know what, we understand that this is important to us and we're prepared to support it.'

"What I see is a real desire to want to move health care and the services provided in Kelowna General Hospital to the next level. To truly make it a centre of excellence for care."

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."