Plan for new KGH parkade dropped in favour of new surface lots

Photo: Castanet file photo

Interior Health has dropped plans for a new parkade at Kelowna General Hospital in favour of buying land for nearby surface lots.

The Central Okanagan Regional District hospital board will review IH’s capital funding requests for the 2021/22 fiscal year on Wednesday.

Key items include the continued expansion of the primary care network in Kelowna and Rutland, two new operating rooms at Kelowna General Hospital and a variety of medical equipment such as a new Holmium Laser.

Most notably, IH says the $4.6M the regional district approved last year towards a new $20M parkade at KGH is being repurposed.

“Planning has now taken place and has led us to a different approach to address parking challenges. Rather than building a single parkade we have determined that the preferred solution is to acquire land with close adjacency to the Kelowna General Hospital campus and to develop surface parking lots on these properties,” said IH chief financial officer Sylvia Weir in a letter to the board.

The letter does not reveal what land the health authority is eying for acquisition. The BC Nurses Union said in January some of its members are being told they may have to wait as long as nine years for a parking space.

IH is also planning on spending $500,000 on replacing sprinkler pipes in KGH’s Royal Building, which have been subject to “electrolysis, resulting in pin holes if not replaced.”

“There is potential for a major rupture which could cause extreme damage to hospital equipment and infrastructure,” Weir said, adding the project will also address “ongoing operational impacts in dealing with leaks.”

In all, the regional district is being asked to contribute $9.8 million towards the $27.5 million plan. The RDCO board will discuss the proposal Wednesday morning.