Penticton woman saved by new cardiac program at KGH
A $7-million cardiac centre in Kelowna saved its first patient.
Penticton resident Betty Lou Thomas woke up in her local hospital’s intensive care unit with no memory of how she got there.
The last thing she remembered was sitting in a waiting room at her gym on a November day. That’s when she suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed without warning.
Twenty-four hours later, she was transferred to Kelowna General Hospital and became one of the first patients to receive care at the new Marshall Eliuk Cardiac Interventional and Advanced Heart Rhythm Program.
After a series of tests, Thomas had an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) surgically inserted in her chest in the new electrophysiology lab, which opened as part of the new program. The ICD is designed to shock her heart back into normal rhythm if necessary.
The day after the procedure, she was back home in Penticton, resting and recovering.
“Honestly, it was a phenomenal experience,” Thomas said in an Interior Health news release. “Even though it was a scary procedure and scary what happened, I felt very comfortable. Everyone was so knowledgeable. We are lucky to have this in Kelowna.”
The KGH Foundation raised $7 million for the lab and program with the final $1.4-million donation coming from Marshall Eliuk, an Edmonton
and Peace River businessperson and philanthropist.
KGH has the fifth such program in the province, alongside Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria, Vancouver General Hospital, St. Paul’s Hospital and Royal Columbian Hospital.