The St. Mary's Hospital expansion and renovation is two months behind the original schedule, Sunshine Coast regional directors were told Oct. 27.
The meeting was also the opportunity for delegates to request funds from the Sunshine Coast Regional Hospital District in order to purchase new medical equipment for the facility.
Original target dates for completion of the project have been altered towards November of 2012 for the expansion and the following fall for renovations.
"The stage that we're in right now, expansion, we're 40 per cent complete of construction," said Larry Harder, the regional director of facilities development for Vancouver Coastal Health.
He added that the funding bill of approximately $43.6 million is on target and that various committees have been established to fine-tune the incorporation of the new facility.
On Oct. 7 a ceremony was held on site with an estimated 300 people in attendance to celebrate the completion of the framework to its highest point. The building now has the start of exterior walls being put into place, with plumbing and electrical services also being installed, Harder reported.
A sample patient room on the second floor is being used to help with the planning process.
"They brought in sample furniture and fixtures, washroom fixtures, to test it out so we can make sure that everything's working, at the right height [and] location," Harder said, adding that a design team "comes in and just looks at the flow of activities throughout the room."
Dr. Dan Dolden from the hospital also appeared at the meeting requesting $320,000 for a new multi-purpose X-ray and fluoroscopic imaging unit. The funds will cover 40 per cent of the cost to replace current equipment Dolden described as being outdated and nearing its end-of-life.
"You would not want to take that piece of equipment and put it into the new expansion," Dolden said. "It is expensive, no question, but this piece of equipment will undoubtedly be here for the next 10 to 15 years."
A new fluoroscopy system will allow for more precise imaging, Dolden said, as well as increasing the ease of use for patients with accessibility concerns.
Should the current system fail, he added, the result would see patients diverted to Vancouver for tests.
Adding to the funding request was Sandra Swanson, a director of biomedical engineering in the Lower Mainland. Her request for a further $45,668 in funding was aimed at obtaining a new laboratory chemistry analyzer for the hospital.
"It's seen a lot of throughput, but we're finding since there's a mechanical piece to it that we're experiencing downtime," she said, adding that service interruptions associated with the equipment have increased from 28 in 2009 to 55 last year.
When the system goes down, medical workers can make use of a basic analyzer for routine work. More complicated samples need to be sent to Vancouver, running the risk of delays and degraded samples, she said.
Hospital district directors approved the request for $365,668 to cover 40 per cent of the new equipment cost, to be included in the 2012 provisional budget. The remaining 60 per cent is set to be covered by Vancouver Coastal Health.
To meet the need for funds, administration recommended a transfer from an investment account used to cover minor capital requests. The account contains $592,593 "derived from prior surplus of tax requisition funds," a staff report states.
Directors also added a request to explore options to replenish the account at their next budget meeting.
