Kamloops MLAs Milobar and Stamer calling out BC NDP for Abandoning Cardiac Patients and Forcing Communities to Fundraise for Basic Care

IMAGE CREDIT:  Interior Health website 

Kamloops-Centre MLA and Critic for Finance Peter Milobar and Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Ward Stamer are calling out the NDP government for leaving cardiac patients in the Thompson-Nicola region waiting decades for life-saving services — while local residents are forced to raise millions to fill the gap. 

The ICCHA-WISH Fund and Kamloops residents have already raised over $2 million for Royal Inland Hospital (RIH), purchasing state-of-the-art equipment and attracting specialists. Yet critical cardiac services are delayed until 2040, forcing over 1,000 patients a year to endure hours-long transfers to Kelowna General Hospital — delays that can mean the difference between life and death.

And now, with a recently departed cardiologist, Kamloops will have no cardiac care between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. “The NDP’s answer? ‘Schedule’ your heart attack at a hospital two hours away — as if medical emergencies run on their timetable. It’s a gamble with people’s lives, and it’s unacceptable” said Milobar.

“This is the NDP’s health care legacy in Kamloops,” said Stamer. “They have billions for severance payouts and bloated bureaucracy, but can’t bring urgently needed cardiac intervention here before 2040.”

Milobar says the province’s spending priorities are completely out of step with British Columbians’ needs. 

“Kamloops residents have shown extraordinary generosity to fund medical equipment, but they shouldn’t have to fundraise for basic, life-saving care,” said Milobar. “This is the province’s way of telling people: if you want proper treatment, start a GoFundMe. That’s not a health care plan — that’s an abdication of responsibility.”

The MLAs say this delay reflects a wider crisis across BC — ER closures, growing waitlists, and burned-out staff, while executives walk away with golden parachutes.