The clock is officially ticking on development of a catheterization lab at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, with the province accepting an offer from the Nanaimo hospital district to front the costs of early planning. (Image Credit: File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

first step

Cath lab planning commences after Nanaimo hospital district push pays off

Mar 19, 2026 | 2:03 PM

NANAIMO — Following extensive advocacy and discussions, the first tangible steps toward modern cardiac care on the mid-Island are being taken.

The provincial government has officially accepted an offer from the Nanaimo Regional Hospital District to front costs of concept and business planning for a catheterization lab at NRGH, advancing the project but keeping it out of provincial budgets for now.

Chair of the Hospital District Janice Perrino said she got word from Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma shortly after the budget was delivered in mid-February, with the NRHD’s gambit paying off.

“Because of the innovative plan by the Regional Hospital District to offer to pay for the concept and the business plan as part of our 40 per cent, that we have to pay no matter what, [the province is] going to move forward with the concept plan. She said to me that what it will include is not only the expansion of the patient care tower, but as well as the cath lab and the operational dollars for the cath lab.”

Hospital District’s are required to pay for 40 per cent of capital expenditures for healthcare projects.

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It officially kickstarts an anticipated 18-month timeline for concept planning, to be done by Island Health, and a business plan to be developed.

Assuming approval of construction shortly after, it’s possible the lab could open by late 2030 or into 2031.

Perrino said the final decision will rest with the province, however she anticipates the cath lab to be built near the current emergency room and new Intensive Care Unit, which opened in 2023.

The NRHD’s commitment came in December, when the governing board offered an initial balance of $50 million toward the project in a bid to kickstart momentum.

It removed a significant barrier, Perrino said.

“The province doesn’t have to outlay any money, we’re doing that for them out of our percentage of what we’re going to pay no matter what. We’re going to pay that money, so for the next 18 months the province doesn’t need to come forward with any money. Then going forward after that, we need to get the province to agree, again, to move forward with the actual construction part of the project.”

Perrino is unsure whether the province will tackle both the promised patient tower and the cath lab simultaneously or as separate projects but said the District’s contributions by the end of the day are expected to be around $750 million.

“It’s a very tough pill to swallow, and I know this is a tough conversation for all of us, but we have to tax enough that we can put money away so that we’re not paying huge amounts of interest for decades to come. That debt that’s going to come is going to be paid by not only us today but also our children and probably our grandchildren. We want to minimize the interest as much as possible.”

Speaking with NanaimoNewsNOW on Thursday, March 19 during a sit-down interview, provincial Finance Minister Brenda Bailey said the lack of a concept or business plan means the cath lab is not part of the current capital plan.

“It is something that there are many people in Nanaimo advocating for, including your representatives, may I point out, and that’s a vision that is being driven forward by many organizers here in Nanaimo who’ve been able to do some fundraising to start the work on a business plan for that project.”

Bailey said work on the concept, business plan, and scope of the project is “just beginning,” meaning some time needs to pass before it becomes a line item in future capital and operating budgets.

“There’s many things that happen before something reaches the capital budget, and those things haven’t happened. That’s not what the challenge is, the challenge is, of course, to have things start moving forward.”

Bailey, who was born and raised in Nanaimo, said the hospital has been “included in a number of budgets over time”, with a continuing list of projects being addressed.

Funding projects sequentially is part of the government’s strategy to balance needs with financial burden, Bailey said.

New intensive care and high acuity units were completed in recent years, while the Nanaimo Cancer Centre is presently under construction and is expected to open in 2028.

“I think what the hospital did [during a tour Bailey took on Wednesday] was really show the contrast of what it looks like in the areas where there’s pressure, where you see four people to a room, to what they can do with proper equipment in a new, larger room that’s designed for people who really need to have that higher level of care.”

The B.C. government’s 2026 budget tabled in mid-February pledged to advance the development of new acute care projects, including planning to expand NRGH.

A new long-term care facility in Lantzville is also proceeding, having recently cleared local regulatory hurdles.

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