Pressure has mounted on the provincial government over several years, in a bid to see construction underway on a new patient tower at NRGH in Nanaimo. (Image Credit: File Photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

BC budget day

Province confirms ‘initial planning for expansion’ at Nanaimo hospital

Feb 17, 2026 | 4:19 PM

NANAIMO — Long overdue upgrades to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital (NRGH) are taking a small, first step forward.

Provincial finance minister Brenda Bailey delivered the annual budget in the Legislature on Tuesday, Feb. 17, outlining $2.8 billion in new funding for health care over the next three years, including $2.3 billion for “new and expanded hospitals and health care facilities throughout the province.”

While no funding was directly tied to a new patient tower or catheterization lab at NRGH, the 2026 Budget and Fiscal Plan states “the Province is advancing the development of new acute care projects, including the launch of initial planning for expansion at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.”

It’s the first written commitment from the provincial government towards substantial upgrades at the hospital to fulfill campaign promises made ahead of the 2024 election for a new patient tower and catherization lab at NRGH.

Donna Hais, chair of the Fair Care Alliance which has led the charge for governmental help to address “woefully inadequate” levels of health care in the region, said they’re keen to learn more about the planning.

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“Did we want more, yes. However, in this challenging fiscal climate the fact our hospital was included as a focus project for expansion is a positive.”

Fair Care’s advocacy has been loud and constant for several years, ramping up for the most recent provincial election.

Around 350 people crammed into Beban Park Society Centre a month before the October 2024 vote to make very clear demands for proper care levels, compared to those available in the greater Victoria area.

Another 250 people gathered in Nanoose Bay a year later, to mark the anniversary of the government’s promise and one year with no public-facing action on the topic.

Those in attendance at both events heard of the glaring lack of supports available in Nanaimo, to all mid and north Island residents, in contrast to the comparative wealth offered on the south Island.

Nearly triple the number of hospital beds, 10 times the number of cardiologists, five times more gastrointestinal specialists, and four times the number of adult psychiatrists were highlighted in Victoria, compared to NRGH.

Population levels for areas north of the Malahat are around the same as those south.

Chair of the Nanaimo Regional Hospital District Janice Perrino told NanaimoNewsNOW the budget was “very high level” and she wasn’t expecting to hear Nanaimo directly referenced in Bailey’s speech.

But she said nothing delivered on Tuesday indicated the project was off the table.

“The good news for us is that they didn’t cut us out of anything. It was pleasing to hear because we’re waiting on news of the Long Term Care facility, which is in the final design stages,” Perrino said.

She noted the NRHD will continue to prepare for the eventual construction of the tower and cath lab, a project which they’ll be required to fund 40 per cent of.

Tax increases from the NRHD in recent years have been aggressive and deliberate, to build up enough money in advance to help immediately fund these high-priority projects, and rely less on long term borrowing.

“We’re the group who has come forward to say we’re here to help you. We’re prepared to pay for the concept plan, the business plan, and the full cost of the construction of the catheterization lab, so we feel that we’re ready to be here in this time of crisis for the province.”

In December, the Board unanimously voted to fully fund the catheterization lab portion of the upgrades, as part of their overall contributions to NRGH and a new patient tower.

Frustration had grown over the years with governments kicking the project down the line repeatedly.

A patient tower, then eventually a cath lab, was promised by David Eby as he ran for re-election in 2024, with an announcement coming during a campaign event in Nanaimo a few weeks before the vote.

Estimates then projected the cost of a new tower to be around $2 billion and take around 10 years to complete.

Eby escalated his pre-election commitment to the project just three days before the vote, stating a business case would begin immediately for a patient tower at NRGH, if re-elected.

Little happened since.

The three mid-Island MLAs, all members of the governing BC NDP, touted health care spending in other areas during a tour of a new high acuity unit at the hospital in August 2025.

This includes the under-construction Nanaimo Cancer Centre.

Nanaimo-Gabriola MLA Sheila Malcolmson said at the time work continued to occur behind the scenes to advance the patient tower and cath lab projects.

Budget documents also stated the long-term care facility envisioned for a Lantzville property has had its budget increase from an initial $289 million to $350 million.

After originally projecting construction to be done in 2027, the Lantzville long-term care project was revised due to climbing costs, with the B.C. government now projecting completion in 2029.

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