The Pender Harbour Health Centre is hoping to get increased funding from the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) over the next three years.
Representatives from the health centre were on hand at the Oct. 27 community services committee meeting to make the request for an additional $8,000 per year for 2017 through 2020.
The health centre covers its budget through grants from the SCRD and Vancouver Coastal Health, which amount to about 70 per cent of the total funding, as well as rent from tenants in their building, and donations. The SCRD’s share was $109,000 for the current fiscal year. The regional district also contributes to a capital reserve, which had a balance of $63,850 at the end of 2015.
Health centre society president Randy Picketts explained that for the last three to five years they’ve been running an operating deficit, and they’ve been having to cover it through the money coming in from rents and donations, which leaves less for programs. He estimated the shortfall at around $152,000 since 2010.
“The grant is not supporting the operational budget, so we’re supporting the operational budget from funds from those other two areas: the tenant income, which is a constant and goes up roughly 1.5 per cent a year, and donations. Donations are not constant, they go up and down.… that’s revenue that we’d like to be using for other services,” added health centre administrator Rick MacDonald.
The health centre offers nursing services, doctor and dental clinics and access to specialists. Picketts said there’s been a steady increase in demand and they’re now seeing as many as 21,000 client visits every year.
SCRD directors were receptive, but committee chair Frank Mauro – who represents Pender Harbour – told the delegation they’d have to wait until the budget rounds to have their request considered.
“You run a great clinic,” Mauro said. “It’s an example of how other clinics ought to be run, [but] this is not the place to make commitments for funding.”
Picketts and MacDonald also mentioned during the presentation that the health centre has been seeing more clients from outside Pender Harbour, mainly Halfmoon Bay. Halfmoon Bay director Garry Nohr said he’d be interested in seeing some numbers on that when the budget request comes back to the board.
“I quite often talk about the Sechelt library funding from Pender Harbour, and I have a feeling they should be paying more. And I think maybe Halfmoon Bay should be paying something toward the [health centre],” Nohr said.
