Province outlines plans for new full-service cancer centre in Kamloops years after it was promised

The British Columbia government is preparing to build a new cancer care centre in Kamloops, B.C., one that was promised by former premier John Horgan several years ago.

Health Minister Adrian Dix says the new centre at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) will include radiation therapy, meaning patients will no longer have to make the roughly two-hour drive to Kelowna for that treatment.

"In order to build a robust public health-care system, we are addressing a lack of health-care investments in communities across the province and, in this case, the need to distribute cancer care around the province," he said during a Thursday news conference.

Currently, some cancer care services are offered through a community oncology clinic at the hospital, including chemotherapy, immunotherapy and oral and intravenous cancer treatment but not radiation therapy.

Dix says a "concept plan" for the centre, which was promised as part of the 2020 election, has been approved, and a business plan will be completed this calendar year.

Dix says he expects the building to be ready to see patients in 2027 and that cancer centres typically cost between $200 and $300 million.

Dr. Kim Chi, medical director of B.C. Cancer, says the new centre is expected to offer 14,000 treatment visits, as well as 6,600 radiation consultations and follow-up appointments in its first year.

The announcement comes more than a week after Dix announced up to 50 B.C. cancer patients will be referred to two clinics in Washington every week in an effort to reduce wait times for radiation therapy.

At the time, Dix said nearly 83 per cent of B.C. patients start radiation within 28 days from the date they're ready for the treatment, which doesn't meet the clinical benchmarks the province has set as a goal.

Centre promised previously

Former premier John Horgan promised a cancer centre in Kamloops during his 2020 election campaign, which was also promised by the NDP government in the 1990s.

Since then, residents and organizations have been wondering when the province would make good on that promise. 

During a Thompson Regional Hospital District meeting on March 30, prior to the government's announcement Thursday, several directors grilled the executive director of  Royal Inland Hospital about when the centre would be built. At the time, she said she could only confirm the project was in the "concept planning" phase, saying that nothing had been approved.

An estimated 50 per cent of B.C. residents will face a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime.