Construction of the Patient Care Tower at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops is about 75 per cent complete.

RIH Executive Director of Clinical Operations, Tracie Rannie, says things have gone well ever since crews began working on the project back in 2018.

“The teams have done excellent. Even though we’ve had a tough year with the pandemic, work has continued,” she said. “Everything is on time and what we are really looking forward to is this next year, they call it commissioning and planning on how we transition into the new tower with planning equipment and work flows. ”

“You know, things like how many people do you need on a unit so there’s lots and lots of work that needs to occur over the next year and so we’re pretty excited to move into that work.”

The $417-million project is the largest in the history of Kamloops. It is being funded by the B.C. government which is contributing $202 million, Interior Health is adding $23 million, while the Thompson Regional Hospital District is adding another $172 million.

The RIH Foundation committed to committed to raising $20 million, though they have a goal of raising $35 million by 2023.

“Its going to have a huge impact on patient care and working conditions at the site by modernizing the Royal Inland Hospital campus for many years to come,” Interior Health Vice President of Human Resources Mal Griffin said.

“We can’t wait to open the doors on the RIH Patient Care tower next summer.”

Construction on the Patient Care Tower is expected to be completed in the summer of 2022.