Domtar and Unifor have announced a $1 million contribution to the Royal Inland Hospital patient care tower, to be donated over the next five years.
Domtar’s Kamloops mill manager Jean-Claude Allaire and Unifor Local 10-B President Rene Pellerin say the donation will be split equally between their two organizations.
“When [RIH Foundation Chair] Heidi [Coleman] came in my office, and it’s true, asking for a million in donation, I didn’t think it was possible,” Allaire said, adding the partnership will be beneficial to the Kamloops area. “But yes, we started looking at a plan, and I talked with Rene, and he said yeah. It took us a year but we made it.”
This donation is Unifor’s largest single donation ever and it’s also Domtar’s largest donation to a hospital in Western Canada.
The $1-million will be split equally between Domtar and Unifor – Unifor’s national union will contribute $400,000 while Local 10-B will cover the other $100,000.
Thompson Regional Hospital District chair Ken Christian says the seven-figure donation from Domtar and Unifor is tremendous for Kamloops.
“The donations come in over a period of time, and if you look at whether its the biggest this year or the biggest over five years, it’s something that we could argue. But there’s been tremendous support from the Kelson Group, there’s been support from the Stollery Foundation, there’s been support from Warner Rentals for this project.”
Christian says the hospital expansion seems to be catching wind as the next big local initiative to step up and support.
“We want everyone to have access to quality care,” said Local 10-B President, Rene Pellerin. “Ours isn’t the only Local in this region and so we were eager to be part of this project, knowing that it would serve all of our members, their families and the wider community.”
“When I brought this to our membership their response was unanimously supportive.”
The new Patient Care Tower will add 287,000 square feet to the hospital – essentially doubling the main hospital building’s overall footprint. It’s expected to be open in 2022.
– with files from Colton Davies
