File photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

OPERATING ROOM FUNDING

Thompson Regional Hospital District approves funding for new RIH operating rooms in split vote

Mar 31, 2023 | 4:10 PM

KAMLOOPS — On Thursday (March 30), the Thompson Regional Hospital District approved a funding request from Interior Health to renovate two of the old operating rooms at Royal Inland Hospital.

RIH currently has 11 operating rooms in the new Gaglardi Tower. The old ORs were decommissioned in the switch over, but Interior Health is now prepared to re-open two of them after they get a much-needed renovation.

“We are seeing all the numbers trend in the right direction. Just having more space — also to it’s modern, it helps with recruitment, retention. Being able to start recruiting now is good, always looking to the future and bringing folks in,” said RIH Executive Director Tracey Rannie.

The hope in opening a pair of new ORs at the hospital is to work on decreasing the surgical waitlist in the community and also help recruit new surgeons to practice at RIH.

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“At the end of the day, what we’ve done is we will be going from 11 surgical suites to 13,” began Hospital District Chair Mike O’Reilly. “We were shown today that the capacity right now in our ORs is pushing 95 per cent. Our job as a regional hospital district is to be planning ahead and not running to 100 or 110 per cent capacity and then making the decision.”

The vote to approve the $1.88 million request was a split vote among board members, with some members questioning why the current ORs aren’t running 24/7.

“Staffing as we know in every sector is difficult, but at the same time, if you are then asking people to not only come to work in Kamloops but we are asking a surgeon to take a shift from midnight to 8:00 a.m. I don’t think that is feasible. I don’t think that will happen,” added O’Reilly.

There wasn’t a hard timeline provided for the build, but Rannie expects it to be about 18 to 24 months. During that time, Interior Health will begin recruiting to fill the new positions.

“We are going to work toward recruitment. It’s great we have had some new nurses join the OR which is exciting. But, it’s also recruiting other specialties. We need folks in our medical device repurposing areas, someone has to clean the instruments, someone has to clean the rooms. It takes a team to provide the care,” said Rannie.

The Thompson Regional Hospital District is contributing 40 per cent of the total costs of the project. The remainder will be funded through Interior Health.