(image credit - CFJC Today)
KAMLOOPS CANCER CENTRE

News release confirms plans for three of the four new BC Cancer Centers to have PET/CT scanners; Kamloops excluded

Jun 24, 2025 | 12:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — Discussions surrounding the Kamloops cancer centre have been ongoing since long before then Health Minister Adrian Dix announced the project was a go back in 2023.

For the Kamloops cancer centre there have been two main points of contention: the fact that the centre will operate under two health authorities and in two buildings on the Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) campus, and the lack of a PET-CT scanner. The latter issue again garnering conversation with a BC Cancer news release confirming four new PET-CT scanners for three of the four new BC Cancer Centres.

“If the design of the Kamloops cancer centre was so top-notch, how come they are building Nanaimo to a different standard, how come they are building Burnaby to a different standard, how come they are building Surrey to a different standard at the exact same time they are building the Kamloops centre,” Kamloops-Centre MLA Peter Milobar questioned. “We are simply asking to be treated the same as the rest of the province. The mayors, the chiefs, the councillors from Williams Lake, all the way south to Merritt, the vast majority are all saying the same thing. Everyone is being ignored by this government. It’s time for David Eby to step in and fix this mess of a farce of a cancer centre project.”

While the conversations around the PET-CT are not new, the release does appear to be the first time plans for all the new cancer centers have been put in writing.

credit – PHSA June 24

Surrey will be getting two scanners, with Nanaimo and Burnaby also getting a PET-CT scanner in their new builds.

In addition to no new scanner in Kamloops, the cancer centre will not be built to accommodate one in the future, meaning it could be more than 15 years before the technology comes to RIH.

“The cancer center in Kamloops is still having architectural drawings done right now. Put the brakes on it, draw it properly, design it properly, design it with the footprint you need, the floor space you need to have all the equipment in there to have a properly operating cancer centre. Designed to the same specifications as every other BC Cancer Centre Agency cancer centre in B.C. That is all Kamloops is asking for,” Milobar said.

The Thompson Regional Hospital District is holding a meeting Friday (June 27), where the Kamloops cancer centre is expected to be a topic of discussion.

CFJC News has requested an interview with Minister Josie Osborne on Tuesday (June 24) to discuss the Kamloops cancer centre.