RIH Mental Health and Substance Use area (image credit - Interior Health)

By Michael Reeve

RIH UPGRADES

Royal Inland Hospital opens mental health and substance use-specific area of emergency department

Sep 16, 2025 | 4:21 PM

KAMLOOPS — Last week, Royal Inland Hospital opened a new mental health and substance use care zone, separate from the emergency department.

The new purpose-built care zone is double the size of the previous unit, and provides a higher level of privacy for patients and their families. Where before, patients suffering from mental health and substance use issues were grouped in with emergency medical patients, both will now have their own designated space within Royal Inland.

“Having our old space, we did the best we could, but having patients in these crisis in a hallway or outside of a seclusion room or in the general population of the main emergency department, it wasn’t ideal for them,” said Gerry Desilets, RIH Executive Director of Clinical Operations. “I think giving them a purpose-built space that has taken the staff’s input in mind — calming colours, open space, private space — is super important. I think people struggle with mental health and it’s often a very hard thing to come forward with and makes it even harder if you are going to be in the middle of an emergency department where it’s really busy and loud.”

The hospital is quite often the first point of contact on a patient’s journey through acute mental illness, so providing a calming setting is key for staff as they look to provide care. Work is still underway to fill some staffing vacancies in the new space.

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The new design also takes doctor and nurse safety into consideration.

“The nice thing about this area is there is a designated nursing area, where nurses and physicians can work out of those spaces, and there is glass separating them from the clients and an intercom system for the other areas,” said Desilets. “Previously, nurses would be charting and the patients would be directly behind them and now there are two areas. There are areas for people to receive care and areas for nurses to do their charting, grab their medications and things they need.”