BC’s Health Minister did not have much to say about the now delayed plans to present a business case for Kamloops Cancer Centre in the fall.

Adrian Dix – who was supposed to present those plans in the fall – was asked by Radio NL about that delay at a news conference on Wednesday.

“The business plan is completed, I would be happy to share details soon,” Dix said, noting the business case for the Nanaimo Cancer Centre has also completed.

“Kamloops is a slightly more complicated project than Nanaimo so it was completed slightly later in 2023 because there is parking involved.”

“That is a project we are doing with the [Thompson] Regional Hospital District that the community very much wanted and wasn’t adequately dealt with in previous developments at Royal Inland Hospital.”

Radio NL also asked the Minister if the expected 2027 opening date for the long-promised Kamloops Cancer Centre has been delayed by two years, as suggested by Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Peter Milobar.

“Well… uhh… I am going to look forward to giving you all the details of the business plan when I get up to Kamloops which should be soon,” Dix said. “The business plan is completed and it was completed exactly at the timeframe we said it was going to be.”

Dix previously promised the cancer centre business plan – which will outline details about what the facility will look like, and how much it is projected to cost – would be both approved and presented in Kamloops in the fall.

The Thompson Regional Hospital District has launched $75,000 advocacy campaign to pressure the B.C. government to put shovels in the ground at the Kamloops Cancer Centre.