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Kincardine hospital redevelopment will cost municipality millions, says Davies By Liz Dadson |
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The Kincardine hospital redevelopment project is on schedule to be tendered by April 1, 2015, but it is going to cost the Municipality of Kincardine millions of dollars.
Offering a bit of history, Davies said the formal redevelopment application was submitted to the Ontario Ministry of Health in 2001, then again in 2003 and 2005. In 2007, health minister George Smitherman announced $750,000 in funding for a business case to be developed for this project. In 2010, the Stage 1 Business Case was submitted to the ministry, said Davies. By July, 2011, approval was announced and a meeting was held with the Kincardine and Community Health Care Foundation regarding the community funding for the project. An official letter of approval from the ministry was received in August, 2011, and then-Huron-Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell made the formal announcement of the project. Phase 1 will see redevelopment of the laboratory, diagnostic imaging, X-ray department, front entrance and medical records area. A new building will be constructed between the existing hospital and the Kincardine Community Medical Clinic for these departments. The old entrance will be demolished, and the inpatient area and surgical sector will remain in the existing hospital. Davies said a Request for Proposal was issued for a consultant for the redevelopment and architectural drawings. Ten corporations submitted proposals by the Dec. 15 closing date, he said. A contract will be awarded by mid-February, 2012, with the project tendered April 1, 2015. "There seems to be gaps in the process," said Davies, "but with each step, we have to get ministry approval." He noted that the ministry sets aside funding over a 10-year window. In the first five years, there are deadlines to tender the project, with money alloted. However, in the second five years, the ministry must determine if the proposal is worthy of consideration and there are no dates and no money allotted. "There is a lot of paperwork and detail to this process," he said. With the proposal complete, the next stage is the functional program in which service providers at the hospital are consulted about what is needed in the various departments being redeveloped. Then, the preliminary design development, contract document development (details drawings), and implementation (construction). The funding is split, with the ministry paying 90 per cent of the cost and the municipality paying 10 per cent. However, Davies pointed out that the municipality is also on the hook for "non-sharable" costs, including furniture and fixtures, areas such as foundation offices and auxiliary space, and the ambulance entrance. "Until we are further along in the process, I can't tell you how much your portion will be," he said. "We have to discuss with the service providers how much space is required for such things as the foundation office and the auxiliary gift shop. The dollar figures won't be finalized until the very end." He did say, though, that the community's portion will be in the millions of dollars, so it should start fund-raising now. An estimate of $54-million is based on 2009 dollars and is escalated for furniture and fixtures and architect fees, etc.
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"At the end, there is a reconciliation process," said Davies, "and you can negotiate with the ministry about how the foundation office square footage is not as expensive as the operating room, and reduce your cost for the project." Councillor Randy Roppel asked if there is future growth of the hospital included in this proposal. Davies said that the idea of the whole hospital expanding in 20 years is not realistic. "Health care is contracting," he said. "The number of beds needed has gone down. Such services as chiropody are done out of the hospital. The need for hospital structure has also decreased and the hospitals have become more of diagnostic centres." In answer to the question about a basement in the hospital, Davies said there isn't one. However, there is a small area on the lower level, and a crawl space. "What's your view of Kincardine's centre of excellence in health care?" asked deputy mayor Anne Eadie. Davies said the move toward centres of excellence focuses on the fact that just because you have the capability to do something doesn't mean you should do it. "You should offer services only if you have the current best practices available to you," he said. "For example, the best practice for obstetrics is being able to move to a C-section in 20 minutes. If you can't do it, you shouldn't offer that service. And you must have sufficient volume - 20 deliveries per doctor and nurse is required to maintain that skill set." Councillor Jacqueline Faubert asked if the functional program meant the project consultant would be asking the practising professionals what they need? "Yes," said Davies. "We will go to the radiology department and estimate what the current best practices are for a community this size - X-ray, MRI, CT-scan - and estimate the amount of space required to operate these modalities. That goes into the overall plan which then goes to the LHIN (Local Health Integration Network) for approval. There are several filters the plan must go through." "Rural health care is often misunderstood," said Faubert. "I was hospital CEO in Blind River," said Davies. "I understand rurality." Scrolling stops when you move your mouse inside the scroll area. You can click on the ads for more
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books, sports, movies ...Wednesday, December 21, 2011 |
That's the update from South Bruce Grey Health Centre chief executive officer 
