After being informed last week that the cost of installing a Computerized Tomography (CT) Scanner in the Whistler Health Care Centre had increased by approximately $900,000, the Whistler Health Care Foundation (WHCF) has been in daily talks with the regional health authority.
And those discussions are making progress, according to WHCF chair Marnie Simon, who expects to be able to announce a resolution in the next few weeks that could mean lower costs.
“It was a bit of a shock when the number came in at $900,000 above what we had budgeted,” said Simon. “We had already set aside a contingency of $300,000 above our estimates for the construction and installation… this was $600,000 beyond that.
“Right now we’re in the process of negotiating and trying to find ways to cut the costs back and still have the project move forward at a later date.”
Construction will likely be delayed until next spring, as the window for starting the project is quickly closing.
“There’s almost no way we can start digging in the ground now, as we planned in the beginning of the fall. It’s not good to build in the middle of winter when you’re knocking holes in the walls of the health care centre. At this stage we need more information and more planning, and to look at all aspects of the project. Those things take time.”
The project will include building a 900 square foot addition to the Whistler Health Care Centre in the parking lot off Lorimer Road, and installing a refurbished CT Scanner in the new space. The scanner will be used to better diagnose brain, organ and tissue injuries before referring patients to hospitals in North Vancouver and Vancouver.
The WHCF’s estimate for the facility was $1.5 million, not including the $300,000 contingency. The estimate that the WHCF was given by Vancouver Coastal Health Authority was $2.37 million.
Most of the funding for the new facility was raised by the WHCF with donations from organizations like the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, health care foundations in Squamish and Whistler, and dozens of private donations. Raising another $600,000 in the community is not an option at this point, says Simon, given the time and effort it took to come up with donations.
“Right now we’re working with the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority as collaboratively as possible to find ways to cut those costs and make it more feasible,” she said.
Once the money was raised, with the Sea to Sky Regional Hospital District contributing about 40 per cent of the estimated capital costs, the project was turned over to the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority (VCHA), which has the final responsibility over the construction and operation of the facility.
The VCHA turned the project over to their consultants before coming up with their own higher estimate. Simon and others have been comparing that estimate with their own to find out why the costs have risen by more than 50 per cent in less than a year.
According to Francis Halle, the regional manager of facilities development and construction for the VCHA, rising construction costs are partly to blame for the additional costs. As well, costs have risen over the estimate as the level of design and detail has become more focused.
“It’s a little more involved in the construction process when you’re building this kind of facility,” he said. “The structures tend to be overbuilt because the clarity of images depends a lot on the stability of the structure. In this case we’re building on what used to be a marsh, and we need to put in pilings to make it stable. The pilings will need to go down 60 feet.
“On top of that the CT scanner weighs an enormous amount, and the quality of images depends on minimizing vibration and those sorts of things.”
Halle does not know if their estimate of $2.37 million can be reduced, but says they are working closely with stakeholders and will look at every possible way to cut costs.
“Next week we have plans to meet with most Sea to Sky-based members of the foundation and funding sponsors, and the following week we will meet internally with players in the project,” he said. “Concurrent to that we have a firm doing a value analysis of the project and exploring options to bring down costs, and considering comments by the (Resort Municipality of Whistler) that could be helpful in re-envisioning the project.”
Halle expects the discussions to wrap up within the next month, at which point the decision on how to proceed will remain with the WHCF, the hospital district and other proponents of the project. The VHCA will fund the operation of the facility once it’s completed, but does not have any money to contribute to the capital costs.
Susie Gimse, the chair of the Sea to Sky Regional Hospital District, says the problem stems from the cost-sharing formula that has been adopted by health authorities and the provincial government.
At the recent Union of B.C. Municipalities conference in Vancouver, representatives of hospital districts met briefly with Health Minister George Abbott to discuss the issue and set up a future meeting.
“It’s frustrating that we agreed to a cost-sharing formula on the project and are now seeing cost over-runs,” said Gimse. “The CT scanner is an excellent example of the problems we’re having, but we’re having the same issues with the Hilltop House project in Squamish, as well as the emergency renovations at Squamish Hospital. Both came in way over the proposed budget, and the health authority then has to come back to us and request that we take on 100 per cent of cost overruns.”
Gimse says the solution would be to create a true cost-sharing system with the province that could be delivered through the health authorities, and for changes that would allow groups like the WHCF and hospital district to work closer with health authority planners on capital projects.
