File photo (Image credit: CFJC Today).

By Aaron Schulze

Cardiac Care

ICCHA-Wish Fund reschedules fundraiser after reaffirmed commitment to restored cardiac care at RIH

Nov 25, 2025 | 9:56 AM

KAMLOOPS — After an initial cancellation to serve as a protest to the closure of the cardiac care unit at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH), the ICCHA-Wish Fund is rolling out the red carpet for its largest annual fundraiser.

The ICCHA-Wish Red Carpet Gala is scheduled for April 24, 2026 at the Colombo Lodge in Kamloops. In a news release, the non-profit says it comes following recent engagement with Interior Health and Cardiac Services BC.

Following a meeting with Jaymi Chernoff, IH South’s chief operating officer for clinical operations, ICCHA-Wish says cardiologists at RIH submitted a detailed equipment list to establish a new procedure room.

Additionally, ICCHA-Wish says comments from Interior Health CEO Sylvia Weir regarding the need to restore and expand cardiac services at RIH helped encourage the non-profit to reinstate the gala fundraiser.

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“This is a bold step by Interior Health and I hope we see progress from the current limbo we are in,” ICCHA-Wish founder Al Patel states. “We now need the government, Interior Health and Cardiac Services BC to approve the equipment required for cardiac advancement at RIH.”

Despite the rescheduling of its Red Carpet Gala, ICCHA-Wish unveiled an updated list of demands until January 2026. The list includes:

• reopening the ICCHA-Wish Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) by January 2026 with adequate cardiac nursing staff on the seventh floor
• speeding up the relocation of the CCU to the third floor near the emergency room and intensive care unit without a name change or interruption to pre-pandemic cardiac services
• providing cardiologists access to two new hybrid operating rooms and radiology hybrid labs while the procedure room is being created
• delivering a committed roadmap for creating a catheterization lab before the next provincial election

“It is now Premier David Eby and Health Minister Josie Osborne’s turn to show their commitment,” said Patel. “We need the CCU reopened, approval for the procedure room equipment and a clear path toward a catheterization lab well before the next election, not in 2040.”

During a meeting in October, according to ICCHA-Wish, IH Vice-President of Clinical Operations Diane Shendruk said cardiac patients in Kamloops will likely be transported to Kelowna for another decade or more. Every year, more than 1,000 patients are transported to Kelowna for advanced forms of cardiac care not available at RIH.

The cardiac care unit at RIH was closed in the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, when hospitals were faced with staffing crunches, leading to nurses being reassigned to other areas of need. The unit has yet to be re-established.

While the cardiac care unit isn’t fully operational, RIH still sits as a tertiary cardiac referral centre.

Currently, the next major capital investment planned at RIH is set for 2040.