During the Second World War, women were actively recruited into the workforce to replace the men who had signed up for military service. Unfortunately, this emancipation was short lived. When the men returned, they went back to their jobs, displacing the women who had experienced the benefits of paid employment. After their war work, many women believed they should no longer be shackled to hearth and home, and those who continued to work experienced unwanted criticism for neglecting their families. Some of the women who stayed home channelled their energies and new skills into volunteer work.
When Penticton’s Second World War vets returned home there followed a population boom: Penticton’s residents numbered 5,777 in 1941; the population almost doubled to 10,548 by 1951. The existing hospital, built to serve a much smaller town, had outgrown its capacity. The allocated bed count was 65, but extra beds had been squeezed in to accommodate 85 patients. Even so, admission wait time could be as long as 35 days. A new hospital was urgently needed. Unfortunately, funds were low in the post-war
