The chair of the board of Thompson Regional Hospital District says progress on a long-promised cancer centre for Kamloops and a new parkade for Royal Inland Hospital are among the top priorities for 2023.
Mike O’Reilly says the need for a cancer care centre is well documented, noting up to half of the patients in Kelowna’s cancer clinic are from the Kamloops area.
“I think what we’ll see is as the infrastructure in the Kelowna cancer clinic starts to age and there needs to be replacement that seems to be a prime and ripe opportunity for replacement equipment to come to Kamloops,” he said. “That being said there needs to be a home where the equipment will go, that’s a big piece of the puzzle.”
As of yet, there has not been any location identified by Interior Health or the ministry for where a Kamloops cancer clinic could be located.
An ideal building has to meet several technical requirements that have not yet been found in the city but are requirements that could be built in a new facility.
Additionally, the hospital board is responsible for sourcing funding for equipment and capital projects in the region – and in that regard will be seeking “progress” for the long-talked-about cancer centre.
“This isn’t just about politics. This is about working with anybody that is in there whether it’s David Eby or Horgan or anyone else who happens to come after Eby – but working with any new premier and saying that this is a priority for our entire region.”
O’Reilly says there’s also a well-known parking deficit at Royal Inland Hospital and a new parkade is crucial.
“We know it’s a tertiary hospital. We know that people from throughout the entire region need to drive to Kamloops to use the hospital. Without parking that becomes a moot point and makes it very difficult.”
-With files from Brett Mineer