Rendering of new Teck ER (Image Credit: RIH Foundation)

By Michael Reeve

NEW ER 2026

New emergency department at RIH focused around efficiency, safety and comfort

Oct 21, 2022 | 4:12 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Teck Emergency Department is expected to open in 2026 at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) as work began on the massive project just under a month ago.

The new ER was designed to promote efficiency, safety, and comfort.

“The system we have at the moment is congested and it’s difficult to provide the best care at all times. With this new design, we have designed structures by which patients can easily flow in, have efficient access, and have safe access to the emergency department,” said head of the emergency department at RIH, Dr. Henk van Zyl.

Teck Resources donated $2.5 million to the project, including new antimicrobial copper surfaces which are able to eliminate up to 99.9 per cent of harmful bacteria within two hours.

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“Copper has very special qualities, and it’s been known about for thousands of years. We didn’t invent it. But 99.9 per cent of bacteria die on a copper surface either immediately or within two hours, whereas they can live for days and days on a stainless steel surface. This will help reduce infection,” said Don Lindsay, Executive Vice Chair, Teck Resources.

Representatives from the Royal Inland Hospital Foundation and Interior Health were on hand to announce the donation and unveil the first rendering of the new emergency department.

“This donation will really change our delivery of healthcare services in our emergency department and so much better serve our patients, families, physicians and staff. It is so significant as we build a new emergency department,” said Diane Shendruk, VP of Clinical Operations for Interior Health North.

While the new ER is still four years away, the doctors are looking forward to slowly transitioning over into the new areas as they are completed.

“During this process we all have to look at the goal and we have a goal of having a world class emergency department in our town. We’ve set that goal, we have partnerships to do that and we are working together for that. And I think everybody has patience with that. I think we will be good,” said van Zyl.

The new ER is part of Phase Two of the overall RIH improvements, following the recently opened Gaglardi Tower.