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(STEVE ARSTAD / iNFOnews.ca)

Interior Health is spending $22 million to expanded the oncology clinic at Penticton Regional Hospital.

The department will become a modern and welcoming place to receive care, according to a B.C. Ministry of Health media release issued today, Oct. 18.

“It’s definitely going to shorten wait times,” interim executive director for clinical operations Jon Clare said in a phone interview.

Although there are hospitals in Oliver and Princeton, anybody living in those communities relies on the Penticton Regional Hospital for oncology care, and will benefit from the upgrade, he said.

Despite the increased capacity in Penticton, wait times for patients in Kelowna will not be impacted, Clare said, since they rely on a different facility.

READ MORE: iN PHOTOS: New ER opens at Penticton hospital; part of $312M reno

He said the new department – which is expected to be open by November 2024 – will be 3.5 to four times the size of the existing unit.

Interior Health’s release said the rate of cancer is estimated to increase in the Interior over the next 20 years.

“A newly renovated and modern cancer clinic space will provide the kind of healing space that we all know our residents need,” Roly Russell, MLA for Boundary-Similkameen, said in the release.

“Beyond that, it will also support the critical need for recruitment and retention of more skilled health-care professionals in our region, which is top of mind for all of us. So many families across the Interior will benefit and be given better options to receive care closer to home with our expanded oncology clinic, thanks to this huge capital investment in care.”

The clinic's $22-million expansion was funded by the province, the regional hospital district and the SOS Medical Foundation.

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