File photo (image credit - CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

HOSPITAL TAX

Thompson Regional Hospital Board declines to fund RIH cost over-runs, reduces overall contribution

Mar 21, 2024 | 5:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — It was a simple and unanimous vote to approve the Thompson Regional Hospital District’s five-year financial plan, equating to a five per cent or roughly $6 a year increase. In doing so, the board put their foot down on what they feel the citizens of the region can afford.

“For $16 million to be dropped on us today, at the same time while expecting to pay for a parkade and new cancer centre, that’s a heavy load, that is too much for our taxpayers,” said Board Chair Mike O’Reilly. “If we were to pay that cost over-run on the emergency room expansion we would be looking at a 29.5 per cent tax increase on top of the five per cent tax increase that we approved at the board.”

Now in search of $16 million to complete the phase 2 renovations at Royal Inland Hospital, Interior Health admitted it won’t be easy, and scaling back will result in delays.

“I think there has to be, we fully commit our budget, we don’t have $16-million sitting around in a drawer that we can pull out and use,” said IH Chief Financial Officer Sylvia Weir. “Having said that we have a lot of pressure on our clinical staff right now, so my head is buzzing with how do we keep going, particularly with emergency at the pace we are going at. Because lengthening a schedule usually just increases costs.”

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The board also moved to use new legislation to reduce their contributions to capital projects including now funding 35 per cent of the cancer centre and 37 per cent of all other capital projects.

“We know that financial strain is a determinate to worse health and we are looking at the big pitcher. And for us to put forward a 35 per cent tax increase to our rate payers today, that would cease a lot of hardship on people and that’s not something we are willing to do,” added O’Reilly.

While the runway is much longer on the cancer centre, and the costs are still preliminary, the cutback could be felt on the project.

“We have a cost refresh to do now anyways, so we will be dealing with a different number in the new year. And it might increase our problem rather than decrease it. But we will be looking at every opportunity we have to cut back. And maybe we phase some of the equipment that we were bringing in. Absolutely not what I want to be doing,” said Weir.

While Interior Health will be holding meetings to find solutions, O’Reilly doesn’t believe the board’s decision should lower the level of care, highlighting that the work from the RIH Foundation should essentially count as local dollars and not provincial.

“The money that was given by the foundation came off of percentage from the provincial government, not the health board. And if you look at where that money coming from it is coming from local tax payers,” said O’Reilly.