From left to right: Brad, Aubrey, Dallas, Malonie, Blake, Linda, Ralph, Jeff, Charlene, and Brett Emsland.
Image Credit: Sarah Robillard Photography
November 13, 2019 - 10:24 AM
A Kamloops family has announced they will be donating $500,000 to help support the patient care tower project that is currently under construction at Royal Inland Hospital.
In a news release issued today, Nov. 13, Royal Inland Hospital foundation announced the Ralph Emsland family will be donating to the project that includes a new rooftop helipad.
“Helicopters were using the original helipad at the hospital for decades until it was deemed not to code by Transport Canada in 2010. After that, we were then forced to use a pad at the city works yard in Mission Flats which was not ideal as it meant that patients still had to be transported a distance by ambulance to the hospital. Local and provincial efforts allowed for the hospital helipad to be rebuilt so that we could once again land close to the Emergency Department,” Ralph Emsland says in the release.
The new helipad is to be located on the roof of the patient care tower and will eliminate the need for ambulance transport altogether. The new set-up will allow patients to be taken directly to the emergency department.
Currently, the air ambulance is available 12 hours a day, seven days a week and is one of four dedicated rotary air ambulances in the province. There are two in Vancouver, one in Prince Rupert and one in Kamloops.
“We have been thinking for quite some time about making a donation to Royal Inland Hospital Foundation. The patient care tower with the helipad on the roof was the perfect opportunity for us to contribute to something we believe in, and in an area that has a significant meaning to us,” Emsland says.
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