B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne. (Image Credit: Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

By Victor Kaisar

Health Minister Visit

Health Minister to make mental health-related announcement in Kamloops as concerns around cancer centre remain

Jul 20, 2025 | 3:19 PM

KAMLOOPS — B.C.’s Health Minister will be in Kamloops on Monday (July 21) to make an announcement about expanding mental-health and substance-use supports.

According to the Ministry of Health, Josie Osborne will be holding a news conference at Genesis Place, a supportive housing facility, which is located at the site of the former Fortune Motel on the North Shore of Kamloops.

The nature of Osborne’s announcement is not clear, but it’ll be her first public appearance in Kamloops since there was confirmation that the Kamloops cancer centre would the only one of four such facilities currently being built that will not be equipped with a PET/CT scanner.

Kamloops will also be the only new cancer centre with services located in two separate buildings – radiation will be in the new five-story facility while chemotherapy and the pharmacy will remain in the existing hospital building.

The Thompson Regional Hospital District (TRHD) and a number of area MLAs have all criticized that decision as well as the Province’s reluctance to change course before shovels are in the ground.

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“Its extremely disappointing that every single city in British Columbia that is having a new cancer centre built or a renovation is getting a new PET/CT except for Kamloops,” Mike O’Reilly, the TRHD Chair said in June. “To us that is extremely frustrating as it’s something our residents need, and it’s something we have been advocating for.”

Kamloops Centre Conservative MLA, Peter Milobar also said that if the Kamloops facility’s design was so “top-notch,” then how come cancer centres in Nanaimo, Burnaby, and Surrey “were being built to different standards?”

Milobar and Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer have co-written a letter to the Premier “demanding” that he step in and ensure the Kamloops centre be redesigned before construction begins later this year. Their letter also includes correspondence from numerous area First Nations, Municipalities and Regional Districts who are calling for the facility to be redesigned.

“We are simply asking to be treated the same as the rest of the province [and] it’s time for David Eby to step in and fix this mess of a farce of a cancer centre project,” Milobar said.

According to the Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) Foundation, local donors are lining up to see if they can buy a PET/CT scanner. It’ll be easier said that done though, as according to those in the know, the plans for the Kamloops facility does not include space for the scanner.

“[Buying] one is maybe the easiest part, where are we going to put it?” asked RIH Foundation CEO Heidi Coleman. “If they will build us that bunker, the hole in the ground, then yes I think we could definitely fundraise for a PET/CT scanner.”

PET/CT scanner in Kamloops was considered: Province

In a statement to CFJC Today, B.C. Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma said the province explored the possibility to include a PET/CT scanner in the Kamloops cancer centre, but decided against it “due to space and architectural constraints.”

“A PET/CT scanner could not be accommodated at this site without reducing the scope of the other critical cancer services in the new cancer centre,” Ma said, in the statement. “Patients who require PET/CT scans will continue to receive that type of care at BC Cancer’s existing PET/CT units in Kelowna, Vancouver or Victoria.”

Ma also said the “primary goal” of the new Kamloops cancer centre is to bring radiation therapy services to the region as early as possible.

“While we understand that some members of the Kamloops community may want to have all cancer care services under one roof, this is not feasible given the limited space available on the hospital campus,” Ma added in, in the statement.

“We are working hard to expand cancer care and treatment for people living in the Interior. That’s why we’re building the new Kamloops cancer centre at the Royal Inland Hospital, so patients and families can access vital cancer treatments closer to home.”

Closed meeting of Kamloops City Council scheduled

Kamloops City Council will be holding a special closed-door meeting at City Hall on Monday. It is scheduled to take place at 3:00 p.m., after the ministry’s news conference, but its not clear if Minister Osborne will be in attendance.

What is known is that the meeting has been called under Section 90(2)(b) of the Community Charter, which deals with confidential negotiations between the municipality and the provincial or the federal government.

If the meeting Monday is with Osborne, other possible topics of discussion – in addition to the cancer centre – could be the long-talked about sobering and assessment centre as well as the proposed municipal medical clinic.

The City of Kamloops has been lobbying for a sobering and assessment centre for the past decade. An updated business case was sent to the Ministry of Health in January.

Councillors also voted in May to authorize staff to work on a business case for the proposed medical clinic, which was pitched by Councillor Kelly Hall as a way to attract physicians to Kamloops.