Thompson Regional Hospital District gets first look at new cancer centre

The Thompson Regional Hospital District got its first look at the future Kamloops cancer centre.

In early February, Minister of Health Adrian Dix made the long-awaited announcement that construction on the BC Cancer centre at Royal Inland Hospital is set to begin in 2025.

On Mar. 21, the Thompson Regional Hospital District (TRHD) board got its first look at the project, including renderings for the future building.

The five-storey facility will be built on the Westlands site on the RIH campus and it is anticipated that construction will be completed by 2028. A new 470-stall parkade will also be constructed.

Some of the features in the building will include space for radiation treatment, radiation-therapy planning, including a CT Simulator, an outpatient ambulatory-care unit, including 10 exam rooms, two consultation rooms for radiation-therapy services, an additional MRI suite, and patient arrival and check-in areas.

The centre will have three linear accelerator vaults, which will contain radiation equipment used for cancer-patient treatment. There will also be sacred space for patients, caregivers and staff with features to support traditional ceremonies.

Systemic therapy treatment service (chemotherapy) will not be included in the radiation centre but will be included in an expanded space in RIH.

The board was told that the oncology department will be moved from the eighth floor of the hospital’s south tower to the first floor in the North West wing in an effort to keep patients closer to the pharmacy.

Upgrades within RIH include 14 treatment bays, three treatment rooms, two consultation rooms, and patient education space. Medical daycare spaces will include one treatment bay and one treatment room.

The centre itself will not have a pharmacy but upgrades to RIH’s oncology area will include a renovated pharmacy to increase access to chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

Todd Mastel, Interior Health director of business operations, told the board that the new building will be about 50,000 square feet while the upgrades to RIH will be more than 3,200 square feet.

The project budget is approximately $359 million, shared between the provincial government, Interior Health and Thompson Regional Hospital District.