The ground has been broken, at least ceremonially, for Kamloops’ long-promised cancer centre, which is set to be completed by 2028.

Provincial government officials were in Kamloops in late July to break ground on the project, including Minister of Infrastructure Bowinn Ma and Minister of Health Josie Osborne.

The centre will be five storeys in height and will also feature an attached parkade structure, all at a cost of $386 million.

“This project is an example of what happens when we collaborate and work together, what we can achieve when local governments, health authorities, local partners, First Nations, regional hospital districts and community donors work towards a common goal: delivering better cancer care closer to home,” Ma said.

The centre will include radiation therapy, a CT scanner, an MRI suite and private exam/consultation rooms.

“We’re doing everything we can to ensure people can access the care they need when they need it and as close to home as possible,” Osborne said.

Although the purpose-built centre is meant to be a “one-stop shop” for all cancer treatments, some services, including chemotherapy and pharmaceutical services, will be upgraded within the main hospital buildings.

The centre will also not include a PET/CT scanner, which local advocates have been calling on the government to include for months, including Kamloops-Centre MLA Peter Milobar.

“Kamloops deserves to be treated the same as every other cancer centre in British Columbia and have a properly designed, all-in-one cancer centre with a PET/CT scanner located in it,” Milobar wrote on Facebook.

Earlier this summer, Milobar, along with regional MLAs Tony Luck, Ward Stamer, Lorne Doerkson and Rosalyn Bird called on Premier David Eby to intervene.

“We are demanding that you step in immediately and ensure the Kamloops Cancer Centre is redesigned and built to match the same comprehensive standards as the rest of the province,” the letter read in part.

Kamloops Coun. Mike O’Reilly, who also chairs the Thompson Regional Hospital District board, has also called for a PET/CT scanner to be added to the mix.

But the province hasn’t budged.

Ma said the centre would have a PET/CT scanner “under ideal conditions,” but pointed to limited building space due to the topography of the area around Royal Inland Hospital.

She also said at current usage rates, there would only be demand for about 900 PET/CT scans per year, which she said is roughly equivalent to one day of operations per week.

“BC Cancer, working in consultation with Interior Health, had to make the decision about what was most important to bring to the residents of Kamloops as quickly as possible,” she told media at the groundbreaking ceremony.

The centre was initially promised by John Horgan during the 2020 provincial election campaign. Horgan had promised to build the centre within his four-year mandate.

Cancer centre-related renovations to the main Royal Inland Hospital building are expected to be complete by 2029.