The CEO of the Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) Foundation says the new Ronald McDonald family room has been a long time coming.

Heidi Coleman says she was part of a group from Kamloops who went to BC’s other family room at the Surrey Memorial Hospital several years ago, and hoped to one day bring such a facility to Kamloops.

“When we went in, the rooms were beautiful, and families were together and discussing and the fact they could interact together it was a dream and look here we are many years later,” she said.

Coleman says advocating for the family room was a no-brainer for the RIH Foundation, as she says they’re always looking for new ways to support patient care in the city.

“Many local families who had to travel to Vancouver are already familiar with the Ronald McDonald house in Vancouver, so being able to offer similar services here at RIH is a huge step forward for us,” she added.

And Coleman says construction of the family room – which is slated to open in 2024 – will be a great chance for local businesses to get involved in the project.

“When we talked about this a little while ago, [there was talk about] how the local businesses could get involved and help decorate it from beds to cookware to appliances, so it’s going to be a great local project,” noted Coleman.

The family room is yet to be designed, but it will be located next to the Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Units in the expanded Patient Care Tower.