Cost of future hospitals needs to be dealt with now: report
By Nelson Daily Editor
By Timothy Schafer, The Nelson Daily
Acute health care needs for people in the region will have to be addressed within the next three to six years as the requirement for a new regional hospital facility becomes imperative, warns a report from the regional district’s chief administrative officer.
Regional District of Central Kootenay CAO Jim Gustafson told the West Kootenay-Boundary Regional Hospital District board that around $150 million will likely be needed to fulfill “potential future obligations associated with a major hospital project” or projects, replacing or refurbishing the Nelson and Trail hospitals.
“Construction is likely five to 10 years away,” he wrote in his report. “But the responsibility for raising the ‘local’ portion of these capital dollars rests with this board.”
The debt for the electoral areas was predicted to be 49.6 per cent, while the municipalities in the region would shoulder 50.4 per cent of the local government cost (likely around a total of $50 million).
Gustafson had asked that the board members determine how they would accumulate the money, reminding the board of the practice of establishing a tax rate that created a surplus for a reserve fund to offset the future debt of the large capital project.
The WKBRHD administration recommended establishing a tax rate that intentionally collected funds to offset future debt.
“(But) the level of taxation is a political decision and so too is the notion of imposing taxation now for payment later,” he said.
The discussion of replacement costs for the two hospitals has yet to hit Nelson City council, said Mayor John Dooley, the city’s WKBRHD representative.
“The focus over the last few years has definitely been solidifying the two hospitals that we currently have, and making sure we have the best possible services there,” he said.
The conversation about a central site really hasn’t been on the table, he said. It will take a conversation to look at the bigger picture, along with several workshops to see if it would even be feasible to go there.
“We need to take a common sense approach that would involve stakeholders … in the delivery of health care,” he said. “My take has been if you allow emotion to dictate the direction you are going to head, you really don’t get the right outcomes in the end.”
The real question will be what the future of health care delivery in the Kootenay Boundary area will look like, he said, and is the best model going forward the one already in the existence?
The current taxation is .1467 cents per thousand for the WKBRHD, equaling a total of $2.307 million per year. To generate a reserve of around $1.5 million per year, the board would have to recommend a total of .2421 cents per thousand.
The current taxation levy was low, said the report, and the number is more likely to increase than decrease over time as construction, equipment replacement and added services in the health sector increase as the population demographic ages.
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