South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation is a 1-star charity. It is not financially transparent and has a D+ results reporting grade, which is below average. Its overhead spending is 21%, which is within Ci’s reasonable range. Its reserve funds can cover program costs for nearly four years, which is above Ci’s reasonable range. Read Ci’s report before donating.

Founded in 1981, South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation (SOSMF) fundraises for 16 health care facilities across six towns in British Columbia: Keremeos, Oliver, Osoyoos, Penticton, Princeton and Summerland. It aims to improve patient experiences by funding medical equipment, programs, and infrastructure. SOSMF states the demand for CT scans increased from 17,892 from 2019-2020 to 21,711 from 2021-2022. It also reports that the number of patients at its cancer department is expected to double or triple in 2025.

In the fiscal year ending March 2024 (F2024), SOSMF granted $3.7m to Interior Health, a regional health authority in British Columbia. Interior Health distributes the funds among the health care centres the Foundation supports. The charity funds three areas: Capital Expenditures, Equipment, and Research and Other. The charity did not provide a spending breakdown of its grants.

Capital Expenditures develop and renovate new buildings for the Foundation’s health care facilities. In July 2025, the charity helped fund two new medical centres: the Colleen Schneider Medical Centre and a new Oncology Centre. The Colleen Schneider Medical Centre offers increased space with 20 exam and procedure rooms and rooms for 30 healthcare practitioners. The Oncology Centre helps treat cancer patients and also features a larger space to reduce patient wait times.

Equipment funds new hospital technology to improve patient experiences. In F2024, SOSMF funded one CT scanner, two pieces of medical simulation equipment, one microscope for eye treatment in Summerland, and one new Airvo 3 Optiflow High Flow System. The High Flow System helps patients with high oxygen requirements.

Research and Other funds research initiatives and specific hospital programs. Ci found SOSMF reported little data on this granting area.

South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation is not financially transparent. Its audited financial statements are not posted on its website nor provided when requested. Charity Intelligence received SOSMF’s financial statements from the CRA Charities Directorate. SOSMF’s audited financial statements follow line-item costing, which is not a financial reporting best practice. This means the charity does not provide a breakdown between administrative and fundraising costs.

SOSMF received $4.6m in donations in F2024, which is 76% of total revenue. This is a 60% increase from the $2.9m donations in F2023. In F2024, it earned $1.0m in investment income, which is 17% of revenue. The charity granted $3.7m to Interior Health in F2024. SOSMF recorded a surplus of $1.3m (21% of revenue).

SOSMF spent $1.0m on fundraising and administrative costs, which is 21% of revenue. This means SOSMF also has total overhead spending of 21%. For every dollar donated to SOSMF, 79 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.

SOSMF has $14.8m in reserve funds (cash and investments). It has donor endowments of $126k. Excluding donor-endowed funds, SOSMF’s reserve funds can cover 395% or nearly four years of its annual grant costs. This is not within Ci’s reasonable range of three years or less.

In F2024, SOSMF had investment returns of 7%. Its investment returns have averaged 3% over the last five years.

In F2024, SOSMF had grant commitments of $9.3m; $8.7m for cancer treatment, $391k for a CT scanner, and $219k for other obligations.

This report is an update that has been sent to South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 25, 2025, by Leah DeFrancesco.