$417M Royal Inland Hospital patient care tower announced
The B.C. government announced Monday a $417 million patient care tower is going forward.
"Royal Inland Hospital is a resource not just for Kamloops but for the entire Thompson-Nicola region," Kamloops Mayor Peter Milobar said in a release.
The building will be nine storeys, with three of those floors specifically designed to house inpatient beds.
Thirty mental health and substance use single patient rooms will be created.
A perinatal centre and private labour and delivery rooms will also be built, in addition to new obstetrics and postpartum beds, a neonatal intensive care unit and 13 new operating rooms.
Renovations to the existing facility will be part of the project, including doubling the space in the emergency department.
Royal Inland Hospital board chair Eric Davis said this patient care tower and emergency room expansion will help retain and recruit doctors in Kamloops.
Construction is expected to begin in 2018 and the tower will be up and running in 2022.
Funding will come from a number of sources; including $225 million will come from the province and Interior Health, $172 million from the Thompson Regional Hospital District and $20 million from the Royal Inland Hospital Foundation.
The B.C. government estimates 2,432 jobs will be created over the course of this project.
With files from Doug Herbert.
