A rendering of the Kamloops cancer care centre. (Image Credit: Interior Health)

By Michael Reeve

KAMLOOPS CANCER CENTRE

Hospital district board hears further BC Cancer rationale for omitting PET/CT scanner from Kamloops plans

Oct 3, 2025 | 4:57 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Thompson Regional Hospital District (TRHD) board heard from a BC Cancer delegation at its regular board meeting on Friday (Oct. 3). Cancer care has become a hot button issue in the Kamloops region, with calls from elected officials to see a re-design of the planned cancer centre at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH).

As currently designed, the Kamloops cancer centre will not include a PET/CT scanner. That is not new information, but on Friday, BC Cancer and Royal Inland came with more statistics to show the hospital district board the rationale for that decision.

“The current demand for residents of the Thompson Cariboo Shuswap Health Service Delivery Area requires less than one day per week of a PET/CT scanner and a PET/CT scanner requires significant space,” said Gerry Desilets, executive director of clinical operations at RIH. “It’s about 515 square metres. That’s comparable to four radiation treatment vaults. Operationally and financially, it didn’t fit sustainably into our plans.”

Board Chair Mike O’Reilly noted current PET/CT waitlists are eight-to-12 weeks for patients in the region. BC Cancer clarified the issue isn’t capacity but the imagery materials.

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“The way we can add capacity is by using the PET scanner we do have more,” began Dr. Ross Halperin, executive medical director for BC Cancer. “Currently, the tool to do the PET scanning — the tracer — is made in a cyclotron in the Lower Mainland and that cyclotron has to be down periodically for maintenance. As the cyclotron capacity in the Lower Mainland increases, we will be able to run our PET scanner more.”

BC Cancer is currently building two new cyclotrons to help increase tracer production, set to come online around the same time four new PET/CTs open across B.C. With no supply issues around tracers, all scans could be theoretically completed within standardized timelines, but may present a new challenge.

“As you will find in health care, generally health care is complex. What happens is when one bottleneck opens, sometimes the next one [arrives]. The one I see down the road that worries me is, will we have the radiologists to read the scans?” said Halperin. “Having another scanner in another location, unfortunately in the immediate short term wouldn’t solve that next potential bottleneck.”

BC Cancer is expecting PET/CT needs in Kamloops and region to increase over the next decade, but couldn’t commit to when a scanner could come to the city.

“Our board isn’t asking for anything extraordinary, we are asking for equitable health care for the residents of the Thompson Regional Hospital District,” said O’Reilly following the meeting. “And from every cancer centre that has been announced in the province, everyone is getting a PET/CT except for Kamloops. That is not equitable and we will continue to advocate for the residents of the TRHD for equitable healthcare.”

The Kamloops cancer centre is scheduled to break ground before the end of the year and open to patients in 2028.