File photo (Image credit: CFJC Today).

By Aaron Schulze

Cardiac Care

Cardiac care unit at RIH to remain closed; ICCHA-Wish Fund cancels annual fundraiser

Oct 16, 2025 | 9:59 AM

KAMLOOPS — Cardiac patients in Kamloops are likely to continue to be transported to Kelowna for care for at least another decade.

That’s according to the ICCHA-Wish Fund after its founder Al Patel met with leadership from Interior Health (IH), Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) and others on Oct. 6. In response to the meeting, ICCHA-Wish cancelled its red carpet gala fundraiser, which was scheduled for Nov. 7, 2025, in protest

Two months prior, the non-profit that raises funds to improve health care at RIH called on the B.C. government and IH to address three priorities regarding cardiac care in Kamloops and area. They include:

• resuming full operations of the ICCHA-Wish Cardiac Care Unit at RIH by Sept. 30, 2025
• enable interventional cardiac procedures in the hybrid operating or radiology room at the hospital by January 2026
• establish a permanent Cardiac Catheterization Lab at RIH before the next provincial election

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Patel did not receive his wish. Despite community efforts and donated resources, the ICCHA-Wish Coronary Care Unit at RIH remains closed due to a shortage of specialized cardiac nurses.

The non-profit says emergency room staff continue to provide initial care, but patients requiring advanced diagnostics or interventions are transferred to Kelowna General Hospital, which only accepts two critical cardiac patients per weekday.

During the meeting, Jaymi Chernoff, IH South’s chief operating officer for clinical operations, said a catheterization lab being built at RIH is “out of the question” due to space constraints and a lack of specialized staff, according to ICCHA-Wish.

In a news release issued Thursday (Oct. 16), ICCHA-Wish said Patel and Thompson Regional Hospital District Board Chair Mike O’Reilly offered donor support to fund a catheterization lab.

“The ICCHA-Wish Fund has already donated all necessary equipment to support a catheterization lab. Now, we need two… just in case the equipment in one fails. However, RIH’s current infrastructure cannot accommodate even one,” the non-profit states.

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.

Speaking to CFJC Today in August, Chernoff said the cardiac care timelines outlined in the requests from ICCHA-Wish would be hard to meet. She said RIH would need a cardiac care unit fully operational in “whatever capacity that means” before a catheterization lab can be 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. ICCHA-Wish says Patel questions whether a catheterization lab will be included in Phase 3 of RIH’s long-term development plan or be delayed until the next election cycle.

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

The non-profit is calling for a plan from the province and IH to address cardiac care in Kamloops by Jan. 1, 2026.