A significant milestone for the Patient Care Tower Project at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops.
Interior Health says the project has reached the ‘Topping Off’ milestone, bringing the concrete phase of construction to completion as the tower reaches its nine-storey height.
“The new tower will create an environment, welcoming to all, in which our physicians and staff will be able to do what they do best – provide high-quality care, which will lead to better outcomes and improved health and wellness for the Thompson-Cariboo region,” said Interior Health Board Chair Doug Cochrane.
To mark the milestone, a number of hospital staff and community stakeholders, including Mayor Ken Christian, signed a 12-foot steel beam which will be then be hoisted into place atop the tower.
“I will be signing it this afternoon and I am very much looking forward to that because I am also the person that signed the loan for $172 million, so I’m quite interested in seeing this project completed,” Mayor Ken Christian, who is also the chair of the Thompson Regional Hospital District, told NL News.
He says watching the project come together has been uplifting.
“It has also been working steadily through the COVID-19 pandemic which has certainly helped our local economy, so that is good news,” Christian added. “It’s a much needed project in terms of improving healthcare in this region.”
“The contractor Ellis Don has now reached the ninth floor and so this is the last piece of the superstructure to be installed, and they will spend the next two years completing this building and outfitting it.”
Christian says the project remains on time and on budget.
The $417-million project is being funded by the Ministry of Health ($203 million), Interior Health ($22 million), the TRHD ($172 million), and the RIH Foundation ($20 million).
“We are very grateful for all of the support we have already received for this exciting project and look forward to continuing to raise funds for both the tower and ongoing needs in the hospital,” added Heidi Coleman, the Chief Executive Officer of the RIH Foundation.
Construction began in September 2018, with Phase 2 renovations to the existing hospital – including renovating and expanding the emergency department, pediatrics, post-anaesthetic recovery and the morgue – set to get underway after work on the tower is complete.
