Penticton resident George Garland has a deep and personal connection to health care in the South Okanagan. His beloved wife Marie spent quite a bit of time at Penticton Regional Hospital while receiving care for Parkinson’s disease and her other health issues.
In memory of Marie, George has donated $100,000 for medical equipment at Penticton Regional Hospital.
George says he was smitten with his future wife Marie almost from the moment he met her at an Edmonton diner more than 66 years ago. In the early 1950s he was working as a heavy equipment operator in Edmonton and often had dinner at the same café where Marie worked as a waitress.
”I used to eat there nearly every night,” George says. “Our first date went well and we hit it off.”
The couple moved to Penticton in 1991.
Several years later, Marie’s health started to decline. “She spent quite a bit of time in the hospital. At one point the doctor took me to the chapel and said he didn’t think she would make it, but she pulled through,” says George.
In her later years, Marie also suffered from Alzheimer’s. She passed away at a care centre in Summerland in September 2018.
George’s donation to the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation will go a long way towards helping patients at Penticton Regional Hospital. Construction is already well underway on the second phase of the hospital expansion, including a major upgrade to the Emergency Department scheduled for completion by the fall of 2021.
