The Thompson Regional Hospital District board chair says it will their job as a board to ensure the newly announced Kamloops Cancer Care Centre comes to fruition.

Mike O’Reilly says its because they’ve heard similar announcements about this long-promised facility in the past, telling RadioNL he won’t rest until shovels hit the ground.

“It’s our job as the regional hospital board to make sure this project goes through and that the timelines are met and that ultimately, we get a shovel in the ground,” O’Reilly said.

“We’ve heard a lot of different announcements over the last 2.5 years from that it’s going to be open in 2024 that has passed Treasury Board, and so again, announcements are great, but it’s a whole different thing to get a shovel in the ground.”

Health Minister, Adrian Dix, told RadioNL the provincial government is committed to seeing the Kamloops Cancer Centre through to completion.

Referencing promises from former premiers Mike Harcourt in 1991, and John Horgan in 2020, Adrian Dix says the provincial government under David Eby is committed to getting the facility built.

“In the history of this government and previous governments of different political stripes, no project that has approved the concept plan stage has not gone forward. Every one has gone forward and this one is going forward,” Dix said. “This is an important moment. It would mean the money involved is in the plan. It means we’re moving to business plan stage, developing that business plan, and we’ll have it this year.”

It is not clear when construction will begin, though Dix says he expects the first patients could begin to get radiation treatment in Kamloops by 2027.

“It’s been a significant period. The decision has been made by multiple governments over time not to do this but we’re doing it now, because it’s the right decision to make,” he added. “I’m not going to comment on the decision of previous governments not to build cancer centres over the last decades, but I would say we’re doing it now and I think this is a good time to do it, and we’re doing it.”

Owing to those many failed promises of the past, O’Reilly says there are still concerns around whether the Kamloops Cancer Care Centre will welcome its first patient in 2027.

“There cannot be a question mark around the residents of Kamloops, we’ve heard this song and dance for several years, but again, I think it’s our job as a board to push on this and make sure that the shovel gets in the ground,” O’Reilly said, noting it will be crucial to ensure that the Kamloops project is ahead of other communities.

“When we sat and listened to Minister Dix speak, we heard three different cancer centers: Surrey, Kamloops, and Nanaimo. It sounds like Surrey is already going, so in my mind it will be Kamloops or Nanaimo and we need to ensure that Kamloops comes first.”

O’Reilly once the facility does open, it will be crucial to ensure that CT Scanners, Chemotherapy, Radiation Treatment, and linear accelerators are all in the same building.

“That has the best effect for attracting new doctors and new nurses to this and that is going to be crucial. we haven’t seen the details but we know a box is going to be built and it’s what’s gonna go inside that box that’s going to be the devil in the details,” he said.

As for the plans to build a 470-stall parkade at Royal Inland Hospital, O’Reilly says the TRHD approved funding for that parkade nearly five years ago, but noted that Interior Health never matched their portion.

“We identified the parking issue over four years ago, and it’s taken four years for the provincial government to come to the table and looks like another four years to potentially build it and so again, that that is a component that is behind now,” he said.

The new Cancer Care Centre is expected to cost between $200 million to $300 million, with the total cost set to be known later this year. Dix says it will be paid for by provincial taxpayers, noting discussions are underway around joint funding [with Interior Health and the TRHD] to pay for the parkade.”