BC Health Minister Adrian Dix announces plans for a new cancer centre in Kamloops, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024.

(LEVI LANDRY / iNFOnews.ca)

Health Minister Adrian Dix has announced the province's plans for a cancer treatment centre in Kamloops.

The minister was at Royal Inland Hospital today, Feb. 8, make the announcement. Dix said the business plan has been approved and a budget is coming with a proposed opening date in 2028, one year behind the initial suggestion.

The five-storey facility will be built on the Westlands site at the hospital, which is currently a parking lot. A new 470-stall parkade will also be built as a part of the centre.

“Approval of the business plan is a critical milestone for this crucial project,” Dix said. “This state-of-the-art cancer centre will benefit patients in Kamloops and the surrounding area by offering the confidence from knowing that we’re building treatment capacity for now and the future.”

The $539 million project will be funded partly by the province, but Dix said the Thompson Regional Hospital District will also contribute part of that. Interior Health CEO Susan Brown also mentioned ongoing partnerships with the Royal Inland Hospital Foundation, which recently helped contribute to the new Gaglardi Tower. 

It's not clear how those funds will breakdown, but with construction not expected to start for another year, MLA Peter Milobar said he'll be watching closely to see if the province sets money aside for the Kamloops facility in the upcoming budget.

"This government is saying, 'just trust us, we'll have the money in the budget for you after the next election,'" he said. "If that's the case, Kamloops has heard that playbook from this government before."

The long-awaited cancer centre has been proposed multiple times, with a substantial promise from former premier John Horgan in 2020, who said it will be open within four years while campaigning for re-election.

Last spring, Dix came to Kamloops to announce a detailed plan would be complete before the end of 2023.

He later told reporters in January the plan was done on time and he would come to Kamloops to give provide more details.

Aiming to keep pressure on the province, the Thompson Regional Hospital District recently launched a $75,000 advocacy campaign for the Kamloops Cancer Centre. 

Part of that campaign is meant to ensure that even if the province follows through with the project, it remains on Dix's previously announced timeline.

In May 2023, Dix said the cancer centre will take its first patients by 2027. Last month, he was asked which of Nanaimo or Kamloops were higher priorities to get cancer centres built.

He said both were a priority, but then added the Kamloops design was more complicated because it will include a parkade.

— This story was updated with more information at 1:08 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024.

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