Over the past five years, a group of more than 300 individuals have contributed approximately $500,000 to the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation.

These funds were donated by the Indo-Canadian community in the South Okanagan-Similkameen to support the medical foundation’s $20-million campaign. This is a campaign which aims to provide medical equipment for the Penticton Regional Hospital (PRH) expansion.

Over the years, many have generously given back to the medical foundation.

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The impressive $500,000 was recently bolstered by an additional $35,500, raising the total donation to more than $530,000 in honour of Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621-1675) – one of the 10 historic gurus in the Sikh religion.

The donations by this group have been honoured in the new PRH tower. The South Okanagan Indo-Canadian Community’s name now hangs in a plaque above the entrance to the medical imaging department.

“We’d like to sincerely thank the Indo-Canadian donors for their help in our PRH campaign. They were among the first to step forward when our campaign was launched in 2015,” said the foundation’s executive director, Carey Bornn.

Over the years, she explained, the community has been one of the top donors in the foundation’s campaign to provide medical equipment for the PRH expansion.

According to a release by the medical foundation, phase two of the PRH expansion, including a major upgrade to the emergency department, is now underway and due to be completed by 2021.

For more information about the foundation or to donate, call 250-492-9027 or visit Sosmedicalfoundation.com.

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