Patient care tower at RIH reaches 'topping off' milestone

Photo: Interior Health

Staff members from RIH pose with a construction beam, signed by RIH staff and physicians this week to mark the 'topping off' milestone at the Royal Inland Hospital patient care tower project.

The new patient care tower under construction at Royal Inland Hospital has reached a significant milestone, according to Interior Health.

Crews have completed the concrete phase, also known as the 'topping off' milestone. The $471-million project now moves into the structural steel phase, notes a news release from the health authority. 

"I'm excited to see the progress on the patient care tower project at Royal Inland Hospital," says Health Minister Adrian Dix in the release. "This tower is going to form an important part of enhancing care for people in Kamloops and the entire region and is part of our ongoing commitment to the people in the Thompson Cariboo Shuswap region."

To mark the milestone, staff and community stakeholders signed a 12-foot beam before it was hoisted and placed in its permanent location at the construction site.

The new tower has nine storeys and will feature single-patient rooms, child and adolescent mental health services, maternal and child health services, respiratory therapy services, surgical suites, a mental health and substance use inpatient unit, and more.

Construction began in September 2018. The opening is slated for the summer of 2022.