The Kootenay East Regional Hospital District (KERHD) Board of Directors has approved an additional $30.2 million for the F.W. Green Memorial Home Redevelopment in Cranbrook.
Interior Health recently informed the board that the project cost would go from $156 million to $232 million and requested that the hospital district fund 40 per cent of the 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,” said KERHD chair David Wilks.
Hospital districts are not required to contribute to capital projects, but it is standard to fund 40 per cent.
However, Wilks said Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma made it clear that the project wouldn’t continue unless the board contributed the full 40 per cent.
“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,” Wilks added.
“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.”
Wilks said they ended up approving the funding increase due to the impact this project will have on residents.
“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 the area from Creston to Golden to the Elk Valley.
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