ICCHA-Wish Red Carpet Gala raises $100,000 toward cardiac procedure room at RIH

“At present, [RIH] does not have a dedicated area to perform invasive cardio-diagnostics,” Al Patel. ICCHA-Wish Fund founder, states. “Currently, these are performed at the bedside, in the operating room or in many cases referred to Kelowna General Hospital. [RIH] is a tertiary level hospital and after spending over $500 million for a brand new Gaglardi Tower… our government and the planners forgot to put a HEART into that building. Furthermore, closure of the ICCHA-WISH Cardiac Care Unit has made our journey to improve cardiac care services more difficult for our cardiac patients.”

ICCHA-Wish unveiled an updated list of demands. The list includes:

the immediate hiring of sufficient cardiac nurses and reopening the ICCHA-Wish Cardiac Care Unit 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

approval of the cardiac procedure room equipment list provided by cardiologists

delivering a committed roadmap for creating a catheterization lab before the next provincial election

During a meeting in October 2025, 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.

The next ICCHA-Wish Red Carpet Gala is scheduled for May 1, 2027, as the Colombo Hall.

by Aaron Schulze

ICCHA-Wish Red Carpet Gala raises $100,000 toward cardiac procedure room at RIH

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