The first step in expanding the Nicola Valley Hospital and Health Centre’s emergency room has officially started.

A request for proposal (RFP) for architectural and planning consultation services for expanding the emergency room of the hospital was released today (July 2).

The process of developing these conceptual plans is expected to take a year.

Once these are in place, the project will be put on a Ministry of Health priority list, and capital funding will be needed to move the project forward from there.

“We’ll work very hard to make sure it is near the top of the list. We certainly have lobbied hard to get to this stage, so that lobby will continue,” Fraser-Nicola MLA Jackie Tegart told the Herald.

The Interior Health Authority announced last fall that expanding the Merritt hospital’s emergency room is a top priority.

The province plans to spend approximately $600,000 on the conceptual plans, Tegart told a small crowd that gathered outside the hospital for the RFP announcement.

Determining what the expansion will look like is something the experts that are hired to develop conceptual plans will determine along with the cost of the project, IHA health services administrator for Thompson-Cariboo rural, Berni Easson said.

“Perhaps they look at renovation, maybe an add on. We don’t know that yet,” Easson said.

“That assessment needs to be done, and then they will recommend what they think should happen and then we’ll know the cost and what we’re up against.”

The Thompson Regional Hospital District and Interior Health Authority agreed to split the $600,000 in planning funding at a meeting held back in March, agreeing to a 60-40 per cent split, with the IHA supplying the lion’s share.

Thursday’s announcement confirmed the approval of funds from the Ministry of Health for conceptual plans.

“It’s recognition that the emergency room and the staff at the Merritt hospital and health centre provide an incredible service to the travelling public,” Tegart said.

Easson, said an emergency room expansion has been on the minds of the hospital staff for years, and they will be involved in the process of developing the conceptual plans.

Patient privacy, infection prevention, control measures and patient access are expected to be considered during the planning process.