B.C.’s health minister says construction on the long-promised Kamloops Cancer Care Centre will begin next year, and be complete by 2028.

Speaking at Royal Inland Hospital Thursday, Adrian Dix said the business case for the facility has been approved, with the project now moving into the procurement phase, with more details to come next week.

“This is great news,” Dix said, to some applause.

“Our team said they would have the business plan to me by December of last year, and they delivered that with really exceptional speed. That is partly because they know and we know how important this cancer care centre is for the people of Kamloops and to the people of B.C.”

The five-storey facility will be built on the Westlands site at RIH, with space for three linear accelerator vaults. There will also be an additional MRI suite, as well as patient arrival and check-in areas.

“The lower floors will contain the cancer centre program areas, and include radiation treatment including three shielded treatment rooms for high energy radiation treatment linear accelerators,” Dix said.

“Radiation therapy planning including a CT simulator, an outpatient ambulatory-care unit including 10 exam rooms, and two consult rooms.”

A new 470-stall parkade will also be constructed “on the top level” of the facility as a part of the $359-million project, with that budget split between the provincial government, Interior Health, and Thompson Regional Hospital District. The exact split is yet to be determined.

Calling it a great day for healthcare in Kamloops, and the BC Interior, the Chair of the Thompson Regional Hospital District says they will continue to work to ensure that the facility is open in four years.

“I don’t think it is lost on myself or the entire board that advocacy for a standalone cancer treatment centre in Kamloops started on April 3, 1998 under the stewardship of then chair, the late Cliff Branchflower,” O’Reilly said. “That is when this started.”

“We as a board feel we are in the home stretch but much as the Kamloops Blazers don’t quit in the last five minutes of the third period, our board and our residents will not quit advocating any working with our partners at the provincial government, Interior Health and BC Cancer, to ensure that this centre is on time.”

The project also includes upgrades to expand existing cancer care services offered at RIH, including an expanded pharmacy as well as the relocation and expansion of the Community Oncology Network clinic from the hospital’s south tower to the northwest wing, next to the pharmacy.

Thursday’s announcement comes about a week after the Thompson-Regional Hospital District launched the public phase of its new advocacy campaign to push for the province to deliver on its promise to bring cancer care to the Kamloops area.

“Immediately you start seeing the headlines [after the announcement] but thinking deeper, its the stories and the headlines that you don’t hear that this will impact,” O’Reilly added Thursday. “It’s the thousands upon thousands of people that are travelling [for cancer treatment] up to four or five hours each way who this impacts.”

“This isn’t headline, this is healthcare.”

Speaking to Radio NL, Kamloops Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson says its “awesome” that the province is moving ahead with plans for the facility.

“I haven’t been in politics for very long but I got to say that I really respect Adrian Dix and IH and everybody involved because when there were here in the summer, I don’t know exactly when, but they said they were going to move this forward and looks like we got this going,” Hamer-Jackson said.

“I think we like to say its been how many years and here we are. You have to kind of forget about when John Horgan said in 2020, let’s forget about that. Let’s stay positive and keep it great. So to me its awesome.”

Hamer-Jackson also said the cancer centre will help residents across the Thompson-Nicola, and not just the City of Kamloops when it eventually opens its doors.

“It means a ton to me but its about the community and the surrounding communities all around us,” he said. “It’s just awesome for the city.”

Cancer Centre on track despite one year delay: Dix

The 2028 opening date is one year behind the initial date announced by Dix in May last year, when he said the concept plan for the Kamloops facility has been approved.

Asked about that one-year delay, Dix said it was because the government wants to ensure that the facility is built properly.

“What we do with business planning is business planning, and so what we want to do is make sure its done properly, that we go through the appropriate process for pre-qualification of bidders and then an RFP process,” he said.

“What you’ll see in the month of February is those bidding documents going out for pre-qualification, and then we’d begin that process where we select who is going to build the Cancer Care Centre.”

“You’re now going to see milepost after milepost pre-qualification, then the RFP process, and the construction beginning in 2025.”

– With files from Brett Mineer