More than 18 months after Totem Lodge and Shorncliffe were vacated, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) has no answers on the future use of those former residential care facilities or their locations.
At the July 17 Sunshine Coast Regional Hospital board meeting, VCH’s director of capital projects for the Sunshine Coast, Sam Samsami, stated building assessments, with a view to possible re-purposing, continue on the two structures left empty when residents moved to the Silverstone care facility in early 2024.
Call in the minister?
Bringing provincial health minister Josie Osborne to the Coast to talk with the community about those two 1980s vintage vacated structures is something Sechelt area director and District of Sechelt councillor Darren Inkster said he had been working on. At last fall’s Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, he took advantage of a break in the scheduled proceedings caused by a fire alarm to approach Osborne with the idea. He noted he wanted to work with local MLA Randene Neill to issue the minister a formal invitation, as his concern for Shorncliffe is that the building will deteriorate further before any decisions are made.
Roberts Creek area director Kelly Backs complimented Inkster for “top tier advocacy” work related to the need to create more facilities to address mental health needs on the Coast. He cited a recent report he reviewed that indicated a 280 per cent increase in mental health interactions by the local RCMP detachment.
“The mental health of our citizens is not getting any better… there is a real need,” said Backs.
Timelines once decisions are made
Board chair and Town of Gibsons Mayor Silas White questioned how quickly VCH could put renovation plans for the sites into its capital budget once decisions were made.
While White put in a hopeful plug to see those in 2026, VCH’s regional director of capital asset management and planning, Johan Marais indicated the board “may have to look beyond that."
Marais emphasized that, of the two, Totem was VCH’s “priority."
Marais outlined there are no 2025 capital construction projects budgeted for Totem or any other VCH facility on the lower Sunshine Coast. This year, VCH is planning to spend $43.8 million at Lions Gate Hospital, followed by another $31.1 million in 2026.
Discussions of 2026 capital planning for VCH's local facilities is slated to be on the agenda of the next board meeting, to be scheduled for later this fall.
