Screen shot of Kamloops Centre MLA Peter Milobar during Budget Estimates on Wednesday in Victoria/via BC Legislature YouTube
BC’s Health Minister is holding firm on the government’s timelines when it comes to building the Kamloops cancer care centre.
“I don’t think the people in Kamloops want to wait years to get that cancer care,” said Health Minister Josie Osborne during a Budget Estimates session in the Legislature on Wednesday, where she was confronted on the impending facility’s design and equipment by Kamloops-Centre MLA Peter Milobar.
“As I mentioned, the project is in the final stages of procurement. The construction will begin this summer,” added Osborne. “We are going to be delivering excellent cancer care for the people of Kamloops and the surrounding region.”
The Minister of Health is maintaining her government’s position, despite pressure from the Thompson Regional Hospital District board, as well as the two Kamloops MLA’s, who are calling for the construction to be put on pause to allow a re-design for a PET/CT scanner.
BC Health Minister Josie Osborne during Budget Estimates debate surrounding Kamloops cancer care centre/via Legislative
The PET/CT, or Positron Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography, is technology which helps trace and diagnose diseases, such as cancers, by injecting a small amount of radiation into you and analyzing the metabolic rates inside your body.
Milobar and his Kamloops-North Thompson BC Conservative colleague Ward Stamer have been suggesting they’d be willing to have the opening of the cancer care centre at RIH delayed by a year to 2029, with both suggesting this could be the time it would take to address their concerns.
Osborne suggested the concept of a one-year delay to redo the design would be unrealistic.
“I know the member [Milobar] has been out in the media, and has told me, that he could tolerate up to a one-year delay,” noted Osborne. “But this would be longer than a one-year delay.”
“This is not necessary in order to deliver excellent cancer care to the people of Kamloops and the surrounding region,” argued Osborne during their budget deliberations.
A PET/CT Scan being conducted at the BC Cancer location in Vancouver/via BC Cancer
Right now, the closest PET/CT scanner is in Kelowna, which has prompted an argument that Kamloops is being given an inferior product to other cancer facilities in BC.
“That is the underlying problem with this whole process, is the government’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge what the medical professionals in Kamloops have been calling for, for years, which is a properly designed cancer centre.” argued Milobar.
As part of his retort to Osborne, Milobar would also take issue with the Minister’s suggestion that travel is part of the reality around the province to receive cancer treatment.
“I’d point out to the Minister [of Health] that people are going to be travelling from Williams Lake once this centre gets built. People are travelling from Blue River once this cancer centre gets built,” pointed out Milobar in response to suggestions from Osborne that people receiving cancer care in North Vancouver have to cross into downtown Vancouver to continue their treatment.
“They’re currently travelling to Kelowna,” exclaimed Milobar. “They’re going to have to continue to travel in greater numbers to Kelowna for PET/CT scans because the government refuses to put that [PET/CT scanner] into this [cancer care centre].
Graphic detailing distances of travel from locations mentioned during Budget Estimates/via Google Maps
“Just because it was announced by a Minister [Adrian Dix] a couple of years ago that it won’t be part of this building doesn’t make it right,” added Milobar.
At the same time, Milobar made a suggestion during his diatribe that the completion of the cancer centre at Royal Inland Hospital isn’t as secure as it would seem, alleging the people of Kamloops could end up being punished for asking for changes in the 11th hour.
“And now our understanding is, it gets ratcheted up a level, where the government is alluding to… if there is any further delays, the project will be scrubbed completely,” offered Milobar, without citing any sources for the allegation.
“Kamloops has long history of distrust with NDP governments and cancer centres,” suggested Milobar. “I’m not going to relitigate the original decision that got yanked away from Kamloops… by then-Premier [Mike] Harcourt.”
“But the community is still angry about that,” added Milobar, who closed his comments with a question of the Health Minister.
“Can the Minister confirm that the Kamloops cancer centre is not under threat by this government in any way, shape or form for cancellation?”
BC Conservative MLA for North Island, Dr. Anna Kindy, with Kamloops-North Thompson Conservative Ward Stamer watching the debate, while awaiting his own turn to lock horns with BC’s Minister of Forests/via Legislature YouTube
Osborne would offer her final response before moving on to questions from another BC Conservative, Dr. Anna Kindy, who represents the North Island riding out of Campbell River.
“We clearly value this project,” said Osborne in response to Milobar’s allegations. “This project is going ahead. This project is in the final phases of the procurement process, and construction will start this summer.”
Dr. Kindy did add a bit of her own perspective into the mix, despite her own turn meant to focus on her own issues as a medical professional in her North Island riding.
“The issue, and I’ve had quite a few letters and people complaining of that, is that unless you get your PET scan, often you do not get to see the cancer care, because they need the results of the PET scan,” noted Dr. Kindy.
Osbourne did relay during the Budget Estimates debate that the current inability of the BC Cancer and Interior Health computer systems to connect and share data with one-another will be fixed by the time the facility, to be built to the southwest of Royal Inland Hospital above four floors of parking, is complete by 2028.
