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Two Okanagan hospitals among odds for B.C.’s first 2023 baby

Kelowna General and Vernon Jubilee among 23 ranked hospitals of which you can place an online wager
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Which of 23 B.C. hospitals will have the first baby of 2023? You can place a bet on which facility if you like. (File photo)

You can place a bet on whether B.C.’s first baby of 2023 will be born somewhere in the Okanagan.

Current odds of the first kid being born at Kelowna General Hospital are 18, according to the betting site PlayNow.Com. Odds at Kamloops’ Royal Inland Hospital are 28 and at Vernon Jubilee Hospital, the odds are at 42.

This year’s odds-on favourite comes as no surprise with B.C. Women’s Hospital (3.5) sitting as the current favourite on PlayNow.com once again, as it’s one of the busiest maternity care centres in the province.

A successful $10 wager on B.C. Women’s Hospital would pay out a total of $35. Prior to 2021, the last time B.C. Women’s welcomed the year’s first bundle of joy was in 2017.

Other favourites include Surrey Memorial (5), which last delivered the first baby of the New Year in 2018, and New Westminster’s Royal Columbian Hospital (8) which held the honour in both 2019 and 2020.

The competition is rattled this year to swaddle in the glory of welcoming the first baby of 2023, including a few B.C. hospitals from outside of the Lower Mainland which could get the first visit from the stork.

Wagering on which of 23 B.C. hospitals will welcome the first B.C. baby of 2023 will be available on PlayNow.com until 6 a.m. (PST) on Dec. 31.

PlayNow.com is B.C.’s only legal, regulated online gambling website and the only site whose revenue goes back to the Province of B.C. to support important societal investments like healthcare, education, and community programs.

PlayNow.com prioritizes player health with robust safeguards, such as session reminders, time and weekly deposit limits. Visit PlayNow.com to learn more about these online tools and how BCLC encourages healthy play. For further information, visit GameSense.com.

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Roger Knox

About the Author: Roger Knox

I am a journalist with more than 30 years of experience in the industry. I started my career in radio and have spent the last 21 years working with Black Press Media.
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