Royal Inland Hospital’s (RIH) new Patient Care Tower in Kamloops hit a milestone as crews have completed the concrete phase of the project, reaching its full nine-storey height.

While following COVID-19 protocols, RIH staff members, stakeholders, funding partners and EllisDon team members attended a ‘topping off’ ceremony celebrating the installation of one of the final beams of the new tower.

A smudging ceremony was performed by Tk’emlups te Secwépemc on the beam, and attendees were invited to sign it before it was lifted by crane to be installed into its permanent location.

The new state-of-the-art tower is a $417 million project that will feature single patient rooms, child and adolescent mental health services, maternal and child health services, respiratory therapy services, surgical suites, a mental-mental and substance use inpatient unit, and rooftop helipad.

The Patient Care Tower project will take place in two phases. Phase 1 will bring Royal Inland Hospital up to current standards of care, improving working conditions, as well as infection control and prevention measures.

Phase 2 will include significant renovation and expansion to the emergency department, pediatrics, post-anaesthetic recovery and the morgue. New parking stalls will be added to the site.

Designed by Parkin Architects Ltd. and Kasian Architects, the tower is targeting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification.

Construction began in September 2018.The building is expected to be completed by the summer of 2022. The RIH PCT is a P3 project, which will see EllisDon Infrastructure maintain the Kamloops Patient Care Tower once construction is complete for a term of 30 years.

Once the Patient Care Tower is complete, Phase 2 renovations will begin with a planned completion date in the fall of 2024.