The financial implications of the $156.5 million expansion of the F.W. Green home expansion to regional taxpayers became more clear during November’s meeting of the Kootenay East Regional Hospital District board.
The project, which will expand the Cranbrook-based facility’s bed capacity from 60 to 148 beds, was finally approved by the Ministry of Health earlier in the fall.
Under the cost-sharing agreement, the province will fund 60 per cent of the project, while the regional hospital board will provide the remaining 40 per cent. In dollars and cents, the province will provide $94 million, while East Kootenay taxpayers will shoulder $62.5 million.
While it may seem like a daunting number, the regional hospital board will be able to handle that cost, based on budget projections over the next five years, according to Chair David Wilks.
In 2020, the hospital board approved a plan to increase taxation in preparation for some large pending infrastructure projects, one of which included the F.W. Green Home expansion.
“As a result of that, we have been able to collect, and will have, all $62 million in place when it comes to the F.W. Green home being built,” said Wilks, who also serves as the Mayor of Sparwood.
“…we will have all of that money, so there’s no need for us to go borrow, and my biggest concern has always been…we can borrow, but there’s an interest payment that comes with that.”
The hospital board’s reserve fund balance is already at $21.8 million.
The F.W. Green Home expansion will see the addition of a new four-storey building that will add 88 beds, which is expected to open in 2027 by taking in the current residents. The project’s second phase, a renovation of the existing site, is expected to accept new residents by 2029.
Procurement is underway and construction is expected to start in 2025.
During a Nov. 10th meeting, the board approved a provisional budget ahead of the spring session, while also endorsing a plan to continue the $30 increase per household, which would raise enough to pay for the board’s share of the full cost for the F.W. Green Home project by 2029.
“We do know that renal, oncology is coming. It’s not a matter of if — that building will be built,” said Wilks, during discussions with the board on Nov. 10. “Once IHA submits their process to the province and assuming the province approves that process in 2024, it will go into the hopper.
“It will be just a matter of time before it’s approved…I would suggest that this project is a go, it’s just a matter of what year it gets done. And then on top of that, we have to anticipate that further projects will be coming forward.”
A new building for oncology and renal services at the East Kootenay Regional Hospital in Cranbrook will be one of the next major projects. The business case is currently underway, which is close to completion and expected to be submitted to the Ministry of Health before Christmas for review.
The total cost for the a building could be upwards of $8o million and beyond.
Whether radiation therapy is included in those plans remains to be seen, following lobbying from board directors and Kootenay East MLA Tom Shypitka.
Shypitka reiterated a call for radiation therapy services in the East Kootenays during a video posted on social media, highlighting a petition of 3,000 signatures collected by the Triangle Women’s Institute in Grasmere and the Sparwood Thrift Shop.
“I’ll be presenting this petition of close to 3,000 names to the Minister of Health and to the Premier of the province, David Eby, to say, when we look at expanding our services here in the Kootenays, we need to include expanded renal and oncology, which brings in radiation therapy,” said Shypitka, in the video posted on Nov. 18.
“So this is something I’ll be doing this week when I go back to Victoria…I’m not overly optimistic, but we need to be driving the message home.”
As part of the budgeting process for the next cycle, Interior Health is expected to submit its list of capital infrastructure projects to the board in December. The board will then vote on which projects to support and approve a formal budget during a February meeting.