A Kamloops family says they will donate $500,000 to the Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) Foundation to support the Patient Care Tower project that is currently under construction.
The money will help fund a new rooftop helipad, which is of particular interest to family of Ralph and Linda Emsland, who are originally from Lloydminster, Alberta.
Linda is a retired nurse, and Ralph is the President of Westcan Aircraft Sales, and two of their sons, Brad and Jeff, were born at RIH.
The RIH Foundation says the family has a strong connection with the current helicopter pad at RIH and the medivac program itself.
“In the 1980s, Ralph joined Seymour Air Ltd. with owner, Abe Giesbrecht, flying charters and medivacs for the provincial government until the mid-1990s,” said Jane Chacko, the Manager of Communications and Projects at the RIH Foundation. “Ralph also started Westcan Aircraft, in 1987, selling aircraft and parts, later branching into helicopter leasing.”
She says both Ralph and Brad worked on the initial pilot project for the helicopter medivac program in the BC Interior.
“They leased a Bell 412 helicopter to CC Helicopters in 2010, as part of this project for BC Ambulance Service, and acquired CC Helicopters in 2011. As a result of the success of the pilot project, they were able to secure a dedicated contract in 2012 to serve the BC Interior,” Chacko added.
While the family is no longer directly involved with the medivac program, Ralph Emsland says getting the project off the ground was a goal for them.
“Helicopters were using the original helipad at the hospital for decades until it was deemed not to code by Transport Canada in 2010. After that, we were then forced to use a pad at the city works yard in Mission Flats, which was not ideal as it meant that patients still had to be transported a distance by ambulance to the hospital,” he said. “Local and provincial efforts allowed for the hospital helipad to be rebuilt so that we could once again land close to the Emergency Department.”
The new rooftop helipad will eliminate the need for ambulance transport all together as patients will be taken directly from the roof of the Patient Care Tower to the Emergency Department.
“The rooftop helipad really does complete the program here in Kamloops,” said Brad Emsland.
Currently, the air ambulance is available 12 hours a day, seven days a week, and it is one of four dedicated rotary air ambulances in the province. Two others are in Vancouver, and one is in Prince Rupert.
“We’re thrilled to see this donation to the Royal Inland Hospital Patient Care Tower project,” said Meagan Hanson, RIH Health Service Director. “The support the tower is receiving from the Kamloops’ community, in this case the Emsland family, is heart-warming and we are very grateful for their donation.”
The $417-million-dollar patient care tower is expected to be finished in 2022.
