‘It’s just not possible’; Health minister rules out 11th-hour redesign of Kamloops cancer centre to include PET-CT
KAMLOOPS — Despite calls from opposition MLAs and community leaders for a redesign, construction is slated to begin this summer on the Kamloops cancer centre.
Local mayors, councillors, regional directors and First Nations communities have written to Health Minister Josie Osborne asking for a redesign of the cancer centre to include room for a PET-CT scanner. With construction on the horizon, the minister clarified Monday (July 21) that redesign will not be coming.
“It’s just not possible to accommodate a PET-CT scanner,” Osborne said Monday during a media event in Kamloops. “And I know that brings concern for people. I know it means additional travel, having to go down to Kelowna. But I also know that having the radiation therapy here is the best first start possible, knowing that you can get that care closer to home, so we will continue working with the community, working with Interior Health and BC Cancer and, again, really doing everything we can to meet that commitment to deliver cancer care closer to home.”
