With the construction of the Collaborative Emergency Centre (CEC) in the Canora Hospital on schedule to be officially opened in November, it is still unclear what the cost to Canora will be.
At least two numbers have been presented to the town, explained Mayor Gina Rakochy. At first, Sunrise Health Region told the town it is responsible to equip the CEC at a cost of $120,000. In more recent discussions, Sunrise said the town is responsible for 20 per cent, or about $200,000, based on the standard capital projects formula which is based on an 80/20 percentage split.
Town council’s main problem with these numbers is that Sunrise expects the town to cover the full 20 per cent but the health facilities are also utilized by the surrounding municipalities, she explained. Based loosely on the population using the Canora postal code, about 52.6 per cent of the population calls Canora home while the rest reside in surrounding municipalities.
Initially, Sunrise was unwavering in its decision that the town was responsible for the local portion but more recently, Sunrise seems to have accepted the town’s contention that other municipalities should also be responsible, Rakochy said. A team from Sunrise has been making presentations to surrounding municipal councils, asking for contributions.
During the Canora town council’s regular meeting on August 18, a Sunrise delegation comprised of Jacquie Holzmann, Teri Lynn Van Parys, Sandra Tokaruk and Sharon Tropin made the same presentation. The delegation was joined by Ross Fisher of the East Central Health Foundation.
Their presentation stated that the total cost of the project was $977,781 of which provincial funding of $775,000 is available. It suggested that $120,000 is required from the community and $82,781 is to come from alternative funding (donations).
“We’re prepared to cover our responsibility which is 52.6 per cent according to our usage data,” said Rakochy. The town disagrees with being totally responsible for covering the cost of equipping the facility, she said. The town has already paid to equip the current clinic/CEC. Is that cost being considered?
The Sunrise presentation provided quite a bit of data, but council did not feel comfortable with many of the numbers used, Rakochy said. Many of those numbers are based on 2013 data and is badly outdated.
The bottom line is that the CEC is good for the community and it will work to attract and serve a full compliment of four doctors and a nurse practitioner, she said. The council does not feel that the community share should be covered by the Canora
taxpayers, Rakochy said. It prefers that the Canora and District Health Foundation take the lead and head this fundraising effort. For people wanting to donate to this project, they can specify their intent when making a donation to the Canora and District Health Foundation or when making a donation to the East Central Health Foundation. The Foundation is able to provide receipts for income tax purposes.
The Canora and District Health Foundation was initially formed to raise funds to cover the$100,000 conceptual study which indicated Canora needed new health care facilities, Rakochy said. That is a long-term project, but the immediate need is to pay for the CEC. This is the current priority.
The mayor said council will again be ad-dressing this issue in September. The CEC should be completed in October for the official opening to take place in November.
