Province announces funding for staff supports, three new operating rooms at Royal Inland Hospital

KAMLOOPS — Provincial Health Minister Adrian Dix has announced five new operating rooms split between the two largest hospitals in Interior Health. Three will be opened at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) in Kamloops, with the other two going to Kelowna General Hospital.

In a news release, Dix says the three RIH operating rooms are slated to open in 2023. They are expected to allow the hospital to complete an additional 3,240 surgeries, or 5,400 hours, every year.

RIH will now have a base of 13 operating rooms. The province says the price tag is $6.7 million, coming by way of a one-time provincial capital investment.

Dix is also announcing a $2.9 million increase in funding “to help support additional staff in the intensive care unit, emergency department and hospitalist program at RIH, as well as additional incentives to attract staff to RIH.”

According to the province, the staffing supports at RIH include 12.7 FTEs of new physician service contract funding. The hospital will transition to a contracted intensive care program “providing 24/7 on-site physician coverage and an expanded scope of critical care services.” The new FTEs will also allow the hospital to expand emergency department coverage.

The funding will also provide more healthcare aides, travel resource pool supports for nurses, retention incentives and re-entry bursaries for people returning to nursing.