A push to have a cardiac catheterization laboratory established at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops is getting some new advocacy.

It’s coming from the Thompson Nicola Regional District.

The TNRD will be penning a letter to Interior Health and the Health Ministry, on the impassioned plea of the Director for the Lytton area, Tricia Thorpe.

“My husband just had his 2nd heart attack, and it was a bit of a logistical nightmare, because he went from Lillooet – that thank heavens was open the night of his heart attack – [as] it was closed the night either side, then he went up to Kamloops,” Thorpe told Radio NL following a meeting where she laid out her personal scenario to the TNRD Board.

“Then he sat in Kamloops, because Kamloops can’t do the cath.  That was on a Friday.  He sat there until Tuesday.  Then they sent him by ambulance to Kelowna,” she lamented.

While Royal Inland Hospital does have a cardiac care centre, the so-called cath-lab is unavailable.

The nearest one is Kelowna General Hospital.

This effort by Thorpe mirrors a push which has been taking place in Kamloops for the past number of years, sponsored by local advocate Al Patel.

His ICCHA Wish Foundation has raised at least $1.2 million over the years to help support the creation of a cath-lab at RIH.

“There’s actually the funding… the private funding to build it, so to speak,” suggested Thorpe.  “All they need is the space.  The space, as I understand, will be there because they are setting up a leaded room for radiology.”

The new advocacy drive by Thorpe at the May 15th TNRD Board meeting wasn’t without some pushback.

“I did probably 20 stories on this thing in over a 10-year period,” noted TNRD Kamloops Director Dale Bass, who is a former journalist.  “Every time the businessman [Patel] came at me and said ‘I’ve got the money, get it for me’ and I would call [the Ministry of Heatlh] and they’d say ‘you don’t need one.  Our figures show you don’t need one.  You haven’t met the threshold’.”

“With all due respect to Director Thorpe – I love what you’re suggesting – but I also worry about whether we’re going to look like we’re asking for things all the time,” added Bass, noting the concerns raised about the concerns raised about what’s going to be installed in the impending cancer care clinic at Royal Inland Hospital.  “At what point do we become that annoying kid?”

Ultimately, the TNRD board did approve the advocacy letter.