The ‘Better Together’ campaign to build JoeAnna’s House, a home away from home at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) for the families of out of town patients, has received a generous $15,000 donation from the Shuswap Hospital Foundation.
The gift will go towards the KGH Foundation’s goal of raising $8 million to open and operate JoeAnna’s House, which promises to house the families of regional patients, including those transferred from the Shuswap area, travelling to KGH for advanced specialist care.
“We are thrilled to be able to support the opening of JoeAnna’s House,” says Fiona Harris, Director of Development for the Shuswap Hospital Foundation. Harris experienced the hardship many regional families face first-hand when her husband, Ross Harris, required heart surgery at KGH.
Following an angiogram in March 2017, Ross was immediately admitted to KGH and underwent heart surgery two days later.
“There was no time to plan,” Harris recalls. “After being informed that Ross would require emergency surgery, I had to find hotel accommodation. I wanted to remain by my husband’s bed side while he recovered. Being away from home was incredibly difficult and having JoeAnna’s House would have been so helpful.”
Ross Harris is just one of hundreds of regional patients transferred to KGH every year for specialized cardiac care. As the centre for Interior Health’s cardiac program, KGH is the main referral hospital for over 750,000 residents across the southern interior.
While many people identify with the need for JoeAnna’s House when considering infant and pediatric patients, the on-site home will also be available to the families of adult patients.
“As Kelowna General has expanded its capacity to provide specialized medical services, it is no longer the case that patients are being transferred to Vancouver or Calgary for advanced care,” says Mischa Mueller, Director of Philanthropy for the KGH Foundation. “We want to make sure that the families of all regional patients, whether children or adults, can stay close to their loved ones.”
“JoeAnna’s House is being built to help families in our community,” says Rob Marshall, President of the Shuswap Hospital Foundation board. “We are grateful to the KGH Foundation for taking this project on and so happy to be part of it.”
The gift from the Shuswap Hospital Foundation further underscores the campaign’s central ‘Better Together’ theme. “By working together, we can accomplish big things,” notes Doug Rankmore, CEO of the KGH Foundation. “This gift is truly in the spirit of this entire campaign. We really are better together.”
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