Construction complete on new tower at Royal Inland Hospital

Health Minister Adrian Dix was in Kamloops today to celebrate the completion of construction work on a new tower at Royal Inland Hospital.

"When this new tower opens to patients in July 2022, residents in this region will have access to quality public health care in a modern, state-of-the-art facility,” Dix said.

People in #Kamloops and surrounding communities are closer to improved access to health-care services as the construction phase completes for the new tower at Royal Inland Hospital. @Interior_Health @s_malcolmson @Tkemlups @MetisNationBC @TNRD @RIHFOUND https://t.co/PSYgbUOHnx pic.twitter.com/xibrQHaA4q

— Adrian Dix (@adriandix) March 24, 2022

The new addition to RIH is called the Phil & Jennie Gaglardi Tower thanks to the Gaglardi family’s gift of $15 million to help make the project a reality.

The nine-storey tower is expected to greatly improve access to healthcare services for residents of Kamloops and surrounding areas.

Mayor Ken Christian called it an important project for everyone through the region.

“Our city has been through a lot and we are looking forward to seeing the positive impact this hospital tower will have on the care of patients in Kamloops and across the region in the years to come,” he noted.

The tower was designed with direct input from local healthcare workers and will help streamline the way people access services at RIH.

“There will be one main entrance and a spacious facility that will allow staff to provide world-class care in a space designed to modern standards,” explained an Interior Health release.

“The tower includes single-patient rooms with their own washrooms, large spaces for families to gather and the ability for Indigenous smudging practices to occur in patient rooms.”

It will have a new operating room and surgical services suite, more beds, medical surgical inpatient units, respiratory therapy services and a rooftop helipad, which will allow certain patients to be brought directly into the tower’s trauma rooms.

It will also feature a mental-health and substance-use inpatient unit, child and adolescent mental-health services, obstetrical services, labour, delivery and a neo-natal intensive-care unit, along with a first-floor atrium and patient registration area.

Once the tower opens in July, attention will be turned to starting the renovation and expansion of RIH’s emergency department, as well as enhancing pediatrics and post-anesthetic recovery.