Coronary care service to be restored at Royal Inland Hospital in 2027: Interior Health

“The approach allows us to provide high-quality, patient-centred care for our sickest cardiac patients at Royal Inland Hospital. It will improve the flow of critically ill cardiac patients through the hospital, getting them the right care in the right location,” Dr. Nicole Desforges, senior medical director of acute services for Kamloops, says.

IH also says the restoration of coronary care maintains overall bed capacity at RIH while providing patient care in the most appropriate setting. It adds coronary care patients will continue to receive the care they need at RIH, based on their individual needs.

In March 2026, RIH’s executive director of clinical operations said the hospital needed to hire nearly 20 nurses to reopen the cardiac care unit.

Meantime, IH says it will continue to use equipment provided through the ICCHA-Wish Fund and the RIH Foundation to support patients in the re-opened coronary care beds.

In May 2026, the ICCHA-Wish Fund says it raised more than $100,000 to advance cardiac care at RIH. It was part of more than $1.1 million the non-profit has raised for a standalone catheterization lab in Kamloops.

However, the ICCHA-Wish Fund says the funds raised thus far are frozen as a cardiac procedure room and catheterization lab have yet to be approved by the B.C. government.

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 ICCHA-Wish Fund’s updated list of demands 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

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

The Thompson Regional Hospital District (TRHD) board of directors is supporting a third-party study of cardiac care outcomes for residents in the Kamloops area. The TRHD said the study, which costs “north of six figures,” will be funded independently by philanthropic donations.

The requested information includes data like catheterization timelines and mortality rates for local residents who have to access cardiac care in Kelowna.

More to come.

by Aaron Schulze

Coronary care service to be restored at Royal Inland Hospital in 2027: Interior Health

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