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A worker at the under-construction Nanaimo Cancer Centre had to be rescued after falling and being impaled by rebar on Wednesday. (Image Credit: Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)
crane rescue

Worker injured after falling at Nanaimo Cancer Centre construction site

Sep 16, 2026 | 12:49 PM

NANAIMO — A construction worker at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital was injured after falling several feet and being impaled.

The incident occurred on Wednesday, Sept. 16 just before noon at the site of the new Nanaimo Cancer Centre on Dufferin Cres., with a man falling approximately six feet off a ladder on the facility’s third floor.

Multiple Nanaimo Fire Rescue engines responded, according to assistant fire chief John MacKenzie, who said the patient was hoisted to the ground to a awaiting ambulance.

“They had a rescue bucket…and we utilized that to bring the patient down. Tower cranes usually have a rescue basket, so we were able to bring him down pretty fairly easily.”

Paramedics and Nanaimo Fire Rescue members assist in transfering a worker to an ambulance after they were lowered from the third storey of a construction site, down to the ground by a crane.
Paramedics and Nanaimo Fire Rescue members assist in transfering a worker to an ambulance after they were lowered from the third storey of a construction site, down to the ground by a crane. (Image Credit: Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

A statement to NanaimoNewsNOW from BC Emergency Health Services noted the patient was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition.

WorkSafeBC has been alerted and will be conducting its own investigation.

MacKenzie said workers on site were “skilled” in responding to the man’s injuries and helping stabilize him before help arrived.

The on-site crane had an attachable bucket used to swiftly lower the patient, which MacKenzie noted.

“We were able to bring him down fairly easily,” MacKenzie told reporters, noting the same approach was used early this year at VIU’s dining hall construction project.

Following the incident, a debriefing occurred where dozens of workers gathered around emergency responders.

The NRGH campus is the site of several notable construction projects.

In addition to the cancer centre, which is projected for a 2028 opening, a three-storey parkade on the northeastern corner of the hospital property is expected to fully open later this year.

Additional surface parking was completed last year at the Boundary Ave. and Nelson St. intersection.

Elsewhere, Jesse’s House is a 16-bed home-away-from-home for families with children at the hospital, and is hoped to be complete by next spring.

First responders wait to transport the worker to hospital.
First responders wait to transport the worker to hospital. (Image Credit: Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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