A second Ronald McDonald family room in British Columbia will call Kamloops and the Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) home starting in 2024.

First reported by Radio NL in May 2019, it is being launched in partnership with Interior Health (IH) and the RIH Foundation, and will offer a ‘home-like retreat’ for family members of patients undergoing medical treatment for illness or injuries at RIH.

Ronald McDonald House BC and Yukon CEO Richard Pass says the family room is “a house within a hospital” and it will be located next to the Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Units in the expanded Patient Care Tower.

“Families can get out of a clinical environment can make a meal, can sleep, can rest, the kids can play,” he said.

“We want to be able to provide that support because the families that stay together in that time of need are the families that are most likely to heal the quickest and the best.”

The new family room will support people from Kamloops and the surrounding communities. The other such facility in B.C. is at Surrey Memorial Hospital.

“Having a non-clinical space where RIH will give the parents from Williams Lake or 100 Mile House or Ashcroft who’s child is admitted for any length of stay, the ability to reset and recharge with their child in a comfortable home away from home setting allows them to focus on details other than accommodation,” noted Co-Chair of the Kamloops committee Sarah Irvine.

The space has yet to be designed, but officials say it will have sleeping rooms, a play area, and a space for people to prepare hot meals and snacks while they wait.

Mayor Ken Christian previously told NL News that he welcomes the addition of the Ronald McDonald family room in the Tournament Capital.