A Decade of KGH Day of Giving!
Community Set to Rally for KGH Emergency Department Under Record Pressure
KELOWNA, BC, May 6, 2025 – On Wednesday, May 13, the KGH Foundation’s Day of Giving will celebrate a major milestone. Now in its 10th year, the one-day, community-wide fundraiser for Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) continues to build remarkable momentum. This year’s efforts will rally support for one of the hospital’s most vital and heavily used departments – the Emergency Department – ensuring care teams have the resources they need to meet growing demand.
Last year, KGH’s emergency department saw nearly 102,000 patient visits, making it in the second-busiest ER in the province behind Surrey Memorial. Since the current space opened in 2012, patient volume has climbed 84 per cent, placing unprecedented pressure on staff, equipment, and infrastructure. This year’s Day of Giving will help fund essential upgrades to improve patient flow, enhance safety, and reduce wait times.
The Foundation has set a $2.5 million goal for its Emergency Department Campaign, with community fundraising events, including the KGH Day of Giving, powering the effort. In previous years, the single‑day event has raised more than $1 million. This year every donation will go even further thanks to a dollar-for-dollar matching commitment up to $550,000 from several local families.
“Our emergency teams are doing incredible work under immense pressure,” says Allison Young, CEO of the KGH Foundation. “But the space can no longer keep pace with the volume of patients coming through our doors. With community support, and the generous match, we have an opportunity to make a meaningful impact for patients and medical teams right now.”
Targeted improvements will focus on the front end of the Emergency Department, where every patient’s journey begins. Redesigned triage, registration, and waiting areas will reduce bottlenecks, while a dedicated ECG room, specialized equipment, and mobile registration will help teams assess and treat patients more quickly. KGH’s clinical and administrative leaders identified these changes as the most urgent and highest‑impact improvements.
“Improving the front end of the Emergency Department will make the biggest immediate difference,” says Dr. Geoff Sanz, Department Head and Emergency Physician. “Small delays at triage ripple throughout the entire department. These changes will help us assess, treat, and move patients through the system more efficiently.”
Over the past nine years, Day of Giving has raised more than $6.7 million, enabling major advancements across KGH – from robotic-assisted surgery (2025), and enhanced cancer services (2024) to mental-health support (2022), stroke (2021) and cardiac care (2019), JoeAnna’s House (2018), and Foundry Kelowna (2017).
“Community generosity has empowered our hospital in so many areas,” says Young. “KGH Day of Giving is about more than our hospital, it’s about what we can collectively do to make a difference. With support, we will ensure that our emergency department and teams have what is needed to provide the very best care.”
Ways to Give on May 14
- Online: kghfoundation.com
- By phone 250-862-4438
- Drive-thru Donation Station: 6am-6pm at Rose Ave & Pandosy St (in patient drop off area)
- In person at KGH: Cash or change in the buckets of Sprott Shaw College “Change Bandits” on Pandosy Street
- Save-On-Foods charity BBQ from 11-1 in the hospital courtyard
- Purchase a pink sprinkle donut at participating Tim Hortons locations
Since 1978, the KGH Foundation has worked with a generous community to raise funds to support world-class healthcare close to home for a growing and diverse population in the interior of B.C. Today, the KGH Foundation is the lead fundraising organization for Kelowna General Hospital, JoeAnna’s House, and Central Okanagan Hospice House, while also fundraising for vital community health care programs
Media Contact:
Jessie Billey
Media and Communications Manager
KGH Foundation
T | 250-826-4973
E | Jessie.Billey@interiorhealth.ca
