It’s been years in the making but construction on the new $417-million patient care tower in Kamloops has been completed, about three and a half years after it got underway.

Health Minster Adrian Dix was on hand at Royal Inland Hospital Thursday, Mar. 24, noting staff will be moving equipment into the building over the next few months.

“This is an extraordinary day and a lot has gone on into it,” he told a group of dignitaries inside the new facility.

“And everyone in this room and all the people who work here and all the people who live in this community and all of the communities who are served by Royal Inland, this is really their day, and their moment.”

Officially called the Phil and Jennie Gaglardi Patient Care Tower, it features new operating rooms, a new maternity ward, and a rooftop helipad.

“I think the biggest operating rooms in the province. They’re pretty magnificent,” Interior Health President and CEO Susan Brown said. “And single-patient rooms. We know when loved ones are in hospital, you need to stay with them. Sitting up in a chair all night doesn’t help you, doesn’t help you help your loved one.”

“I remember thinking about what this could be and now it’s here, it’s come to fruition, and it’s going to be a wonderful addition to care in Kamloops,” Brown added.

Dix says the project has been a long time coming, noting he feels it will not just serve patients in the area well, but also serve as a recruiting tool for new healthcare workers.

“This is a pretty good day for Kamloops, and we are all here together. We build these projects because the whole community comes together – everybody come together,” Dix said. “This is why I’m proud to support this project. It is why [former Health Minister] Terry [Lake] was proud was support the project. This is what we do.”

“We need to build healthcare facilities that will bring people to Kamloops that will allow people to come and do their best work. It will help people get well in facilities that we can be proud of, and this is one of them.”

Questions still remain about how the new tower will be staffed, though the Minister was confident there will enough staff to run the new tower.

“I announced a couple weeks ago more than 600 new nursing spaces in B.C. to train more staff, specific actions to support internationally educated healthcare workers to enter our system,” Dix said, while taking questions from the media.

“The recruitment efforts are going on. We’ve increased the number of nurses in B.C. by 6.5 per cent since I’ve been health minister, well above population growth.”

Brown also referenced the new student nurses hired to work at the Kamloops facility during her remarks.

Dix was also asked about the fact that the new tower only adds 20 net new beds to the facility, given the transition more single-bed rooms which take up more space.

“Qualitatively it’s going to do a lot more than that,” he responded. “I think it’s going to bring healthcare in Kamloops and in the region into the 21st century. Those beds are going to be all single-bed rooms, which in terms of the quality of care makes a phenomenal difference.”

The new patient care tower is scheduled to officially open on July 18.

When that happens, Phase 2 of the project – renovations on the existing  emergency department at Royal Inland Hospital – will get underway.