While St. Mary's Hospital won't be receiving any of the $2.7 billion in hospital capital funding announced in last month's provincial budget, various personnel are now working hard to wisely spend the nearly $24 million provincial dollars earmarked last July for the hospital expansion.
The project's governance committee, composed of representatives from Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), the Sunshine Coast Regional Health District, the St. Mary's Hospital Health Care Auxiliary, St. Mary's Hospital Foundation and the Sechelt Indian Band, met in late February to look at architectural plans and work on a construction schedule for the $39.75 million project.
"Things are moving along nicely," said Bill Hubbs, chair of the St. Mary's Hospital Foundation. "We're very pleased with the current regional project manager, Francis Halle, who's putting a maximum effort into this project."
Last Friday, Halle and the committee made amendments to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) soon to be signed by the regional health district, VCH, foundation and auxiliary. If all goes as planned, construction is expected to begin this summer. It will be St. Mary's first expansion since it was built in 1963 and will mean going from 38 to 70 in-patient beds, more day patient procedures and expanded ambulatory care and radiology.
The expansion will complement the hospital's new CAT scanner, started in September after an intense fundraising effort. The machine is now on pace to complete 3,800 scans within its first year, far above VCH's prediction of 3,000.
The expansion will also include a "totally modern emergency and triage area" and a new intensive care unit (ICU) wing, said Brenda Langevin, VCH's director of coastal health services delivery for the Sunshine Coast and Powell River.
When asked about the potential for the sheer number of people retiring to the Coast in the next few years possibly minimizing the beneficial effect of the new beds for the existing population, Langevin said VCH uses "bed modelling" to keep a close watch on trends with hospitals and long term facilities.
"That was a concern of many," she said. "It's very hard to count people who aren't here yet, but we know they'll arrive at some point. But it's a positive impact if people can stay healthy," she said, noting seniors are much healthier today compared to 20 years ago. The population of the Sunshine Coast is expected to increase by 18 per cent over the next decade. Developments such as the proposed Allenback seniors lodge have been the subject of scrutiny from some Sechelt councillors concerned over the healthcare footprint they could have - the lodge's 185 units alone could mean up to 150 new seniors on the Coast.
"It's a variable we use in our planning you can't really control where people live," said Langevin. "Our biggest worry with healthcare resources is people - those resources are getting scarcer, and the challenge is to get more of them trained."
Langevin said the shortage exists uniformly across the healthcare spectrum, from clerical staff and care aides to licensed practical nurses and doctors. She said she hopes the expansion works as a multiplier, not only improving care for patients but raising the profile of the hospital to potential new doctors and health care professionals.
"Expansion gives you a bit of an edge when attracting people," she said. Hubbs agrees, and noted the CAT scan campaign also worked as a marketing tool for potential health care professionals, who he said were impressed by the community's enthusiasm.
"I've already got donors asking me what our next campaign is going to be - if the expansion goes over the budget of $39.75 million, that's when we might come in," said Hubbs, referring to the hospital foundation and auxiliary.
Operating budgets for hospitals in VCH also received a boost in last month's provincial budget, getting a 13.6 per cent increase over the next three years. St. Mary's Hospital budget, to be completed during March and April, may reflect that increased funding, Langevin said.
