RIH Foundation Radiothon 2026 (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

RIH Foundation Radiothon

Kamloops community comes out strong for 12th Annual RIH Foundation Radiothon

Mar 5, 2026 | 4:43 PM

KAMLOOPS — The phone lines opened up at 6:00 a.m. Thursday (March 5) morning with donations starting to flood in both online via the Royal Inland Hospital Foundation’s website and through the phone bank in the hospital atrium.

“There is freezing going on with the Ministry of Health, and so we are being asked for a lot more, so that means you are being asked for a lot more – because where do we get our money from? It’s donors just like everybody here,” said foundation CEO Heidi Coleman. “We’ve asked to do renovations, buy new equipment, innovation – whether it’s a Da Vinci Robot or this new Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) suite that we have to do, which is $6.8 million.”

Last year, the radiothon managed to raise just over $650,000 during its first year airing on B100. While Coleman admitted that figure may be hard to surpass, the foundation did receive an anonymous matching donation for the first $200,000 raised this year.

“We have a lot of money to raise, but thankfully I live in the greatest place, in the Interior of B.C. where people are so amazing and we want to keep this hospital strong and attract and retain the people we have. And I think we are doing a pretty good job,” added Coleman.

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It was an early start to the morning for the team from Generation Private Wealth, who manned the phones from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. Thursday, helping to raise more than $27,000 throughout the hour. 

“When you make a contribution to the RIH Foundation, you are helping our whole community,” said Generation Private Wealth’s Mark Bertoli. “Our mission statement says we improve lives. We have no better way than to support the hospital foundation, then, to improve the lives of people here in Kamloops.”

“This our second year and we plan on doing it for the near future,” added Houle Electric’s Richard Davies. “It’s important for us and the community. We need to raise the funds to make sure the services are there.”

The money raised this year will be used throughout the hospital, but the foundation is also focusing on women’s health.

“We want to really put in a new program and focus on women’s health. We are working with the neurologists, the OBGYNs, we are working with the orthopedic surgeons, cancer specialists, what is affecting women more than others. You will hear more about it in the coming year,” said Coleman.