Kamloops | Vancouver British Columbia: The Royal Inland Hospital Foundation is grateful to announce the receipt of a transformational gift of $15 million from the Phil & Jennie Gaglardi Foundation to support the Together We Rise capital campaign and inspire community giving. Celebrated as the largest-ever donation received by RIH Foundation and the Interior Health region, this gift will modernize Royal Inland Hospital and transform health care in Kamloops and the Thompson Cariboo Shuswap with the two-phase completion of the Phil & Jennie Gaglardi Tower and subsequent existing site renovations. 

Phase I of the redevelopment project at RIH encompasses the Phil & Jennie Gaglardi Tower: including a new main hospital entrance and operating rooms, mental health and substance use inpatient unit, a rooftop helipad and a new Maternal & Child Services ward with expanded Labour & Delivery Post-Partum Care and NICU Unit. Phase II of the project at RIH will include the renovation and expansion of the existing emergency department, a new post-anesthetic recovery unit and a new pediatric unit.

“With the development of the new Patient Care Tower, this gift will help facilitate RIH’s capacity to keep pace with the complex needs of Kamloops’ growing and aging population and the demand for specialized, inter-disciplinary care. As the only tertiary referral hospital in our area, the new Patient Care Tower and Phase II Emergency and Pediatric Department site renovations at RIH will thoroughly and dramatically transform patient-centered care within our community. In recognition of the Gaglardi family’s generous contribution, the Patient Care Tower itself, will be named the Phil & Jennie Gaglardi Tower,” said RIH Foundation CEO, Heidi Coleman.

“I was overwhelmed by the generosity of the Gaglardi family and impressed by their desire to pay tribute to their parents and grandparents”. “The impact of the Gaglardi family to the community is going to be felt for decades to come”, said Jim Reynolds, Campaign Cabinet Chair.

I want to thank the Gaglardi family for this tremendous gift to Royal Inland Hospital and in support of health care in this region. From the new operating rooms, to treatment areas and spaces designed to help patients and families feel welcomed and comfortable, this project will have a positive impact on many people for years to come. The Phil and Jennie Gaglardi Tower will modernize the Royal Inland Hospital campus and reflect the incredible commitment to health care that is shared by our health care workers and the community,” said Susan Brown, Interior Health president & CEO.

Phil and Jennie were married in 1938 in Langley, B.C., where Jennie had started Christian Life Assembly Pentecostal Church. In 1944 along with their two children, they moved to Kamloops to build and minister the First Pentecostal Church. They moved into the basement of an older church at 159 Seymour Way, which they renovated and named Calvary Temple. Their ministry prospered, and Jennie, devoted to the health and well-being of children in the community, dedicated herself to running one of Canada’s largest Sunday Schools. In 1952 Phil was elected as M.L.A and served in different portfolios for 20 years, while Jennie ran the church with Phil coming from Victoria every weekend to pastor.

Phil and Jennie were a constant presence at the hospital, where they regularly ministered and visited patients. In 1964, Phil and Jennie saw a need specific to helping older people. They formed a non-profit society and built Silver Threads – two senior citizen buildings with 145 units and run by Jennie to provide Senior Citizens in Kamloops with affordable housing. Well into the 1990s, they dedicated themselves to Kamloops and helping others who lived in the city they both dearly loved.

Their oldest son Bob, in 1963, after receiving an Engineering degree, started Northland Properties with the dream to build and create. He knew he could never live up to his parent’s expectations and follow them in the ministry, so in his way, he would find ways to give back to the community in the same spirit his parents had taught, believed, and lived.

“This gift is to remember the legacy of my parents, Phil and Jennie, and their unwavering commitment to serve their community and help others. I am humbled by the dedicated and hardworking teams at Northland Properties, who have made this inspirational gift possible,” said Bob Gaglardi, Founder and Chairman of the Board, Northland Properties Corporation.

About Phil & Jennie Gaglardi Foundation 

Guided by the legacy of Phil & Jennie Gaglardi and their joy of helping others to build a stronger community, the Phil & Jennie Gaglardi Foundation works to enhance people’s lives through community involvement and partnerships with a focus on healthcare, children, and diversity through hospitality.