Three years in the making, an 84-bed wing at Penticton Regional Hospital is slated to open later this month.
Called the David E. Kampe Tower, after a Penticton philanthropist, the tower will reportedly feature single patient rooms plus five operating rooms, three minor procedure rooms, two endoscopy rooms, and a cystoscopy room.
The six-storey tower, set to open on April 29, will also feature a rooftop helipad, a permanent MRI machine, space for the UBC faculty of medicine program to expand, and a 480-stall parkade. Construction began in the spring of 2016.
“This is a great day for public health care for people in Penticton and throughout the South Okanagan, as the David E. Kampe Tower will deliver better care for families,” said Adrian Dix, B.C.’s minister of health.
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“The facility will have more beds, more operating rooms, state-of-the-art diagnostics and easy access to a number of outpatient services.”
The tower’s outpatient services will include cardiology, neurology, orthopedics, respiratory, pre-surgical screening, and maternal clinics.
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The cost was pegged at $312.5 million, with costs being shared by the provincial government, the Okanagan-Similkameen Regional Hospital District, Interior Health and the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation.
“We are thrilled to see this project so close to opening the doors to patients,” said Doug Cochrane, board chair of Interior Health.
Kampe is the owner of Peters Bros. Construction, a major donor to the Penticton Regional Hospital. Kampe has made numerous donations toward improving health-care services in the region.
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“I thank David Kampe for his generous donations to this project and for all he does in the community, giving back and helping others, making people’s lives better,” Dix said.
“The community as a whole has gotten behind this project through its support for the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation, which is raising $20 million to help purchase much of the equipment for the tower.”
Kampe says having lived his entire life in the South Okanagan, supporting the hospital project was an honour.
“When I look at what we have built, I think of the families that will benefit from the facility and the medical professionals and support staff that will provide the first-class services,” he said.
“While I appreciate the acknowledgment, the thanks should go to the people who made this vision a reality and the people who provide the services. I’m thrilled to see this new tower opening.”
According to the Ministry of Health, the hospital will also be undergoing an emergency department expansion. Work is expected to start this summer and be completed in 2021.
The tower will be holding an open house on Saturday, April 13. Hospital staff and families will be able to tour the building between 10 a.m. and noon. The public is invited to tour the tower from 1 to 4 p.m.
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