Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation

Celebrating 32 years of community giving, the VJH Foundation was established in 1981 as an independent society whose sole purpose is to raise capital funds for Vernon Jubilee Hospital. With the establishment of Interior Health in 2001 and the reorganization of health care in the North Okanagan, the Foundation’s mandate changed.

Today, Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation is responsible for supporting and administering funds for:

Residential Care Facilities

Noric House; Parkview Place; Pleasant Valley Manor; Polson Manor; Polson Special; The Gateby

Community Care Programs

Day Break; Enderby Community Health; Granville Get Away; Lions Vision Centre; Mental Health; Pleasant Valley Health Centre; Vernon Community Health; Vernon Public Health

Vernon Jubilee Hospital

Vernon Jubilee Hospital and its Interior Health healthcare partners are situated in the North Okanagan. Working with the community, the Foundation exists to enhance healthcare, improve programs and education in acute care, residential care, community and mental health.

In 2011, the Foundation completed its largest fundraising campaign, raising $7 million to support equipment purchases for the Polson Tower at Vernon Jubilee Hospital. This was thanks to the generosity of the North Okanagan community. Reaching this lofty goal was not the end of fundraising needs.

In February of 2012 the community was asked to support the full cost of a renovation and expansion of the McMurtry Baerg Cancer Centre. $500,000 was raised, with the project completed in 2013.

On September 23, 2015 the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation hosted a celebration at VJH to announce the completion of the Building a Tower of Care Campaign, Phase II.

The Campaign was launched in November 2013, to raise funds to equip and furnish the top two floors of Polson Tower to alleviate capacity issues at VJH.

The campaign was bolstered by major gifts from the Kiwanis Club of Vernon – Four Seasons, whose $250,000 donation resulted in an opportunity to name the 6th Floor of the Tower. The Armstrong/Spallumcheen Health Care Auxiliary donated $110,000 from proceeds of sales at the Bargain Bin thrift store in Armstrong. The 4th, 5th and 6th annual VJH Foundation Charity Classic events sponsored by TELUS and Predator Ridge Resort raised $528,780.62 net for the Campaign, while the Foundation’s Light a Bulb 2013 and 2014 campaigns raised a combined $504,108.

The $2.5 million campaign was completed one year early.

Construction was completed in October 2015. From November to January, equipment was installed, staff received training on new procedures and equipment usage, and terminal sanitizing cleaning took place. Inpatients on the 2 and 3 floors were moved onto the new floors at the end of January, with direct admissions to the 6th and 7th floors taking place at the beginning of February 2016.

Additional funds raised by the campaign will be directed to refurbishing the vacated space on 2nd and 3rd floors of the Jubilee Building at VJH.

Four semi-private and 22 single-bed rooms per floor help promote improved patient experience by providing access to light and views, decreased noise levels, a family and nursing zone in every room, and improved infection prevention and control features. Every bed includes a patient lift to decrease incident of falls and staff injuries.

Each floor features a Quiet Room, Nourishment Centre, Tub & Shower Room, as well as an Airborne Isolation Room designed to reduce airborne transmitted infections.