The $39.75-million expansion for St. Mary's Hospital in Sechelt is going smoothly so far, said officials from Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) at last Thursday's (June 26) meeting of the regional hospital district.
Dave Mackintosh, VCH's new regional director for facilities planning and project development, said the schematic design that began last August and was completed in February 2008 is now a million dollars over budget. But it will come down to meet budget after a price review at the end of August, during which lumber prices will be re-assessed and items like the cost of furniture or the size of rooms will be adjusted if needed.
"We won't go for tender unless we have a balanced budget," Mackintosh said. "We're starting to see a construction decline now," he added, pointing out the budget contains a 25 per cent contingency for escalating costs.
Bidding for the various construction tasks will begin at the start of 2009. The building schedule is then divided in three phases: foundations (March 2009 through July 2009), new additions (July 2009 through January 2011) and renovations (January 2011 through February 2012). Once improvements to the ambulatory area are finalized in February 2012, the expansion will be complete.
Bill Hubbs, president of St. Mary's Hospital Foundation, said a new fundraising campaign will likely begin in March 2009."We have to wait until we see the shovels in the ground before we can determine what are the major pieces needed for our fundraising drive," he said.
The provincial ministry of health, via VCH, is covering 60 per cent of the project cost, while the regional hospital district is covering the remaining 40 per cent. VCH's regional director of capital asset management and planning, Johan Marais, let the hospital district know how the expansion - the largest of 12 facilities projects now being undertaken by VCH -fits within their $76.2 million capital allocation for 2008/09. The hospital district board adopted the memorandum of understanding between the hospital district and VCH, after chair Barry Janyk put forth an amendment to strengthen the wording behind VCH's commitment to maintain appropriate staffing levels at the hospital.
"If we spend $40 million to upgrade the hospital, then don't have the staff to fill it, we fail," he said.
The next regional hospital district meeting will take place in early September.
