After over a decade at the helm of one of the region’s top non-profit organizations, KGH Foundation CEO, Doug Rankmore has announced to the Board that he will be stepping down from his role as CEO effective December 31, 2021.
“I don’t think of this as the end of an era,” said Rankmore. “Rather, it’s the beginning of a new one; an opportunity for the foundation to expand and grow, and become better than it is today.”
Since taking on the role in 2011, Rankmore’s leadership has certainly left its mark. Kelowna General Hospital has been evolving and, in many ways, now ranks among the best hospitals in the country. Over the years, Rankmore has lead a team that has raised over $90 million in support of the foundations mission – world-class care, close to home.
Successful campaigns during Rankmore’s tenure include; opening the Interior Heart and Surgical Centre, which includes the donor-funded Hybrid OR, one of the most advanced operating suites in the country (2015); inspiring the community to outfit a new Perinatal Unit and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (2016) at KGH; working in partnership with Canadian Mental Health Association – Kelowna to open Foundry (2017), a one-stop resource centre for youth, and their families, struggling with their mental health; building and opening JoeAnna’s House (2019), a home away from home on the KGH campus for the families of regional patients who must travel for care; and most recently, funding the completion of Interior Health’s cardiac sciences program at KGH (2020), so that patients no longer have to travel to Vancouver or Calgary for advanced cardiac care.
“Doug’s commitment to advancing health care for the patients and families in the southern interior has never waivered,” says Darrell Porubanec, Chair of the KGH Foundation Board of Directors. “He’s challenged us all to imagine what is possible, to strive to be better and to never compromise our pursuit of excellence. It truly is his legacy.”
“It’s been an extraordinary privilege and such a great honour to serve this community,” says Rankmore. “It’s been the most gratifying work of my career – so far.”
An executive search for a new CEO will be undertaken by the Board of Directors in the coming months.
