The Kootenay East Regional Hospital District (KERHD) Board of Directors has approved additional funding of over $30.2 million for the F.W. Green Memorial Home Redevelopment in Cranbrook to ensure this important project continues to move forward.
Interior Health recently informed the Board that new cost estimates for the project have seen projected construction costs go from $156 million to $232 million and requested the Hospital District fund 40% of the $76 million difference. “Every single member of our Board fully supports this project. We all recognize how critical these new long-term beds are for our region and how much residents of this facility deserve the quality-of-life improvements that will come with this new space. But these are staggering numbers,” explains KERHD Board Chair David Wilks. Previously, the KERHD approved a full 40% funding, or $62.5 million dollars, toward the project making it the single largest capital investment the Hospital District has ever made. This additional request would push that contribution to $92.8 million.
Hospital Districts can choose, but are not required, to contribute to capital projects at hospital facilities, with the standard funding share being 40%. However, in a phone call and subsequent letter to the Board dated July 9, the Honourable Bowinn Ma, Minister for Infrastructure, made it clear that the F.W. Green Home Project continuing depends on the KERHD Board contributing the full 40% share, including this additional funding.
“We as KERHD Directors were taken aback by the magnitude of the difference in estimated project costs, and the lack of consultation given the significance of our financial contribution as partners in this project. There were concerns about the impact on taxpayers and, given the sharp and continued cost escalations we’ve already been subjected to, that this could create further risk. So, this was a challenging decision for this Board to make,” stresses Wilks. “In the end, recognizing the impact this project will have on families, on the clients who will call this new space home, to the regional hospital where beds are being occupied by long-term care patients due to a shortage of long-term care spaces, and to the staff at both the hospital and long-term care homes, we voted to support the additional $30.2 million funding request to ensure this project moves forward for our region.”
The KERHD covers an area from Golden to Creston and the Elk Valley and provides capital funding for hospital facilities in the region for equipment and facility construction and renovation. The KERHD Board of Directors is comprised of representatives of every municipality and electoral area within the hospital district.
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