Excitement was in the air today as Royal Inland Hospital celebrated 75 days until the opening of the new Clinical Services Building. The milestone was marked by the unveiling of a countdown clock that will signify the final days before care begins in the newest addition to the Royal Inland Hospital campus.

“Today, we begin the home stretch toward opening the new Clinical Services Building,” said Health Minister Terry Lake. “We began this journey four years ago, and it’s exciting to know that in just 75 days patients from Kamloops and the surrounding area will begin receiving care in this beautiful, modern health-care facility.”

On July 11, 2012, Premier Christy Clark announced that the Clinical Services Building would launch the first stage of redevelopment at Royal Inland Hospital. Just over four years later, the Clinical Services Building is scheduled to open to patients on Monday, Aug. 15, 2016. A few weeks earlier, on Monday, July 25, 2016, the parkade below is scheduled to open to vehicle traffic.

“The Clinical Services Building is an important investment in quality patient care,” said Todd Stone, MLA for Kamloops-South Thompson. “I am also excited about what the future holds for Royal Inland Hospital, as Interior Health completes planning for Phase 2 of the hospital’s redevelopment, a new patient care tower.”

“Patients from all over this region come to Royal Inland Hospital for care,” said Jackie Tegart, MLA for Fraser Nicola. “We all have a reason to be proud of the work that is done here, and of the expansion of excellent patient care that begins with the new Clinical Services Building.”

The Clinical Services Building will add 5,200 square metres (17,060 square feet) of state-of-the-art patient care and education space to Royal Inland Hospital. The facility was designed and constructed to target Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification. It represents a $79.8-million investment funded by the Province and the Thompson Regional Hospital District.

The Clinical Services Building will accommodate a variety of outpatient services, such as laboratory, pre-surgical screening, operating room booking, cardiology, pulmonary function, neurodiagnostic care, a sleep lab, and IV infusion therapy. The vascular improvement program and transient ischemic attack rapid-access clinic will relocate from Royal Inland Hospital’s Alumnae Tower, as will the Thompson Region Family Obstetrics Clinic.

All these services will be easily accessible from the four-storey parkade that will add approximately 350 stalls to the hospital’s parking complement. Patients will also be able to reach services within the existing hospital through the bright and airy pedestrian bridge link. Those entering on foot from Columbia Street will be able to choose between a stairway and a wheelchair-accessible elevator to reach Royal Inland Hospital.

“The demand in outpatient services has grown over the years, as improved technology and processes shifts the need for lengthy hospital stays. The Clinical Services Building allows patients to park just a few steps away from their care, and then return home a short time later,” says Erwin Malzer, Interior Health board chair. “This is the direction in which health care across the province, including at Interior Health, is moving.”

The Clinical Services Building will also offer space for telehealth consultations, which is important for enhancing care for Interior Health’s rural and remote patients, as well as for accessing consultations with specialists in the Lower Mainland. Expanded educational space, including a lecture theatre and a clinical simulation lab, will support Interior Health’s continued health professional training and the University of British Columbia faculty of medicine’s medical programs. This represents an important investment in the future recruitment and retention of physicians and staff to the Kamloops area.

“Royal Inland Hospital has been the cornerstone of health care in Kamloops and the surrounding region for 104 years,” said Kamloops Mayor Peter Milobar, chair of the Thompson Regional Hospital District. “We look forward to seeing the next chapter of care begin when the Clinical Services Building opens this summer, and eagerly await what the future holds through planning for a patient care tower.”

Learn More:

View the Clinical Services Building’s progress at: www.buildingpatientcare.ca