NDP: New regional cancer centre in Kamloops

THE NDP announced on Saturday that as part of a 10-year cancer plan, their leader John Horgan will deliver a new regional cancer centre in Kamloops—building on their record of improving health care and seniors care in the region.

“Every family in BC has been, or will be, touched by a cancer diagnosis. That includes my own,” said Horgan. “Our plan will deliver better care, closer to home for families in the Interior as they go through their cancer journey so they no longer have to travel hours and hours away for care. Investing to improve health care in Kamloops, and across the province, has never been more important than it is right now.”

Horgan made the comments alongside BC NDP candidates Sadie Hunter (Kamloops-North Thompson), Anna Thomas (Kamloops-South Thompson) and Aaron Sumexheltza (Fraser-Nicola). They warned that local health care investments would be at risk under the BC Liberals, who handed tax cuts to the top two percent of income earners while neglecting health care over their 16 years in government.
 
“Andrew Wilkinson has supported billions in giveaways to wealthy speculators and big businesses—but now he won’t tell us which taxes for the rich he’ll cut until after the election,” said Sumexheltza. “Here in the Interior, we know that will mean fewer resources for the health care services we’re counting on right now. That’s a risk we just can’t take.”

Horgan’s BC NDP has brought better health care, closer to home for people:

  • * Cut MRI wait-times in half across the province.
  • * Building a new patient care tower at Royal Inland Hospital.
  • * Brought a new PET/CT scanner suite to Kelowna for Interior cancer patients.
  • * Opened BC’s first Urgent Primary Care Centre in Kamloops and added a family practice learning centre to give opportunities to new doctors.
  • * 100 more public long term care beds on the way to Kamloops—part of the 500 beds coming to the Interior, the single largest investment in 15 years.