Long-awaited Kamloops cancer centre groundbreaking doesn’t bury questions, criticism

“Across this province, our population is growing, our population is aging and with that comes the reality that more people will face a diagnoses of cancer,” said Osborne, the minister of health. “And in fact, nearly 1-in-2 British Columbians will be diagnosed with cancer in their lives. That is why we are taking action.”

The budget, at $386 million, is also a $27-million increase from when former Minister Adrian Dix first announced the project in 2023.

On Monday, Minister Osborne stated including a PET/CT was impossible. On Thursday when asked about not including an additional floor, Minister Ma stated the decision made was focused on speed of delivery.

“I think we are talking about balancing function and urgency, and it is the case that because of cost escalations in project, that governments — not just the government of BC — local governments, other provincial governments, federal governments, governments all across the country have had to make very difficult decisions,” responded Ma.

While the government release states, ‘construction has begun’, earthworks are not yet underway and a timeline was not presented. The government is still planning to complete the build by 2028, but even that seemed less clear on Thursday.

“We anticipate that the cancer centre will be up and running by 2028, or at least substantially complete by 2028,” said Ma. “Sometimes there is training and work that has to be done on the healthcare level in order to make sure all the staff are geared up to receive patients, and then the renovation in the main building (RIH) will be complete by 2029.”

The new facility is expected to process 7,500 patient radiation consults and follow-up appointments each year.

Questions remain over design choices and timeline

While Thursday’s groundbreaking was widely applauded by those in attendance, the project is not without it’s fair share of critics. From local politicians at the municipal, regional district and provincial levels, to community members and stakeholders, concerns have been raised about the lack of a PET/CT scanner in the new centre, and issues with services being split between Interior Health and BC Cancer under the Provincial Health Authority.

As it stands, the Kamloops cancer centre is the only one of four currently being built in B.C. that will not be equipped with a PET/CT.

“This will be a very good thing for Kamloops and the residents of [Thompson Regional Hospital District]. Obviously, we didn’t get everything we had been asking for but it’s a significant step,” said Mike O’Reilly, chair of the hospital district.

Despite the shovels hitting the ground on Thursday, Opposition MLA Peter Milobar said he has no plans to stop demanding an additional floor be built.

“The government says they can’t add the other floor to the clinical space because it would cause delays and cause more cost pressures. We are already $30-million over budget. They haven’t even applied for a building permit yet. We know this building is going to be delayed anyways, so why don’t we delay it and actually build it properly instead of having it substandard, delayed and over budget?” Milobar told CFJC News after the event.

The reason behind no sixth storey was attributed to the balance of function and urgency. Even still, the RIH Foundation stands ready to purchase the critical piece of equipment should a space become available.

“We are going to continue, because life is short. I said it before,” said Heidi Coleman, RIH Foundation CEO. “And we want this to be the best. We aren’t going to get another comprehensive cancer centre. We aren’t going to get something built in the back. This is it, so let’s do it right in the first place.”

Minister Ma said on Thursday patients in the Kamloops region receive 900 PET/CT scans every year. Without one in Kamloops, Milobar expects recruitment to be a challenge.

“Absolutely, we are going to have a problem on recruiting — and that is not me saying that, that is coming directly from oncologists who have been telling me this for two-and-a-half years. The government has ignored those same oncologists,” said Milobar. “We don’t ignore oncologists when they give us a cancer diagnosis. Maybe we should listen to the oncologists when they tell us what they actually need in the facility to recruit their brethren to come here and work.”

The project is also already $27 million over the budget announced two years ago. The TRHD has contributed $45 million to the project already and regardless of cost overruns, that figure won’t be increasing.

“We made it clear as a hospital board that we wouldn’t be funding cost overruns and I don’t expect we will be doing it here, either,” said O’Reilly.

by Michael Reeve

Long-awaited Kamloops cancer centre groundbreaking doesn’t bury questions, criticism

Questions remain over design choices and timeline

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