$1M donation to Kelowna General Hospital will boost Parkinson’s care

Barry Humphreys left an indelible footprint in Canada’s potash industry and now he will do the same in an area of health care that he knows all too well.

Through their family foundation, Barry, his wife Anne, and their two children, Kim and Doug, have made a $1 million commitment to Kelowna General Hospital to advance care for those living with Parkinson’s disease in the southern interior of British Columbia.

The gift has been earmarked to significantly increase capacity and expand the service model for the movement disorder clinic at KGH, which was established in 2015 by neurologist Dr. Daryl Wile to support the needs of patients living with movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease.

Humphreys was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2020.

“He’s been doing his best to gracefully navigate the changes he’s experienced in his body and mind as the disease has progressed,” said Barry’s daughter, Kim Humphreys.

“Dr. Wile is a brilliant neurologist. We believe in his vision to advance care for those like my Dad who are struggling to maintain their dignity and their independence while living with this disease.”

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The movement disorder clinic at KGH focuses on Parkinson’s disease, which affects roughly 2,700 people in the Interior Health Region. Last year alone, over 300 people living in the region were diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Wile says the clinic needs to expand services to meet that need and could set a new standard in care for those living with Parkinson’s disease in smaller communities.

“We have a high prevalence of Parkinson’s disease in Interior Health, perhaps because many folks, much like the Humphreys, choose to move to the region and make it home once they retire,” Wile said. “We expect the numbers will continue to grow, as the primary risk factor for Parkinson’s disease is age.”

Wile said this investment will help grow the clinic’s capacity, and through partnership with the newly established Centre for Health Systems Learning and Innovation at KGH, we can continue to learn and develop our approach in ways that work best for our patients and our community.”

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Barry and Anne were married in 1967, shortly after he began working as a junior accountant at the Duval Potash Mine that had just gone into production. The mine was eventually bought by the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, a crown corporation of the provincial government.

In 1989, the crown corporation became a publicly traded company, PotashCorp, and eventually grew to be the world’s largest potash producer and the third largest producer of nitrogen and phosphate, three primary crop nutrients used to produce fertilizer.

Barry received his Certified Management Accountant designation as he pursued his career, working his way up to the executive team to become the chief financial officer. He retired in 2004.

PotashCorp merged with Calgary-based Agrium to form Nutrien in 2018.