The City of Prince Rupert is putting the finishing touches on a land transaction that probably won’t be near as controversial as some of the famous ones of the past.
For one dollar, Northern Health will purchase land near the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital and Acropolis Manor, land that will help in getting the long delayed replacement centre finally under construction.
The Daily news featured the story in the Wednesday edition.
CITY STEPS IN WITH LAND FOR ACROPOLIS PROJECT
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Page one
The Northern Health Board has approved the purchase of land by the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital and Acropolis Manor from the City of Prince Rupert for $1.
“By having this land available, we’ll be able to build the replacement facility while keeping the current Acropolis Manor open while the construction happens,” said Jeff Burghardt, NH board char. “The board greatly appreciates the assistance of the City of Prince Rupert as we work to develop what will be an excellent seniors care facility for the residents of Prince Rupert.”
NH will use the land for the replacement of Acropolis Manor with a new, up-to-date long-term care facility and assisted living housing development. The project will receive funding support from the North West Regional Hospital District and the Ministry of Health.
At last week’s monthly board meeting, Northern Health also announced a small surplus just after the half-way mark in its current fiscal year. At their meeting in Prince George, NH Board members received a financial update to the start of October showing a $3.5 million surplus. This surplus is about half a per cent of the region’s annual operating budget of $521 million.
“While we’re optimistic about meeting our balanced budget projection for 2006/2007, we know the winter leads to increased costs due to higher acute care volume and greater energy usage,” said Burghardt.
The NH board’s update from the regional medical advisory committee (the group that represents the region’s physicians to the board) indicated some concern that hospitals in the region are seeing increased acute care activity. However, Northern Health explained that it is responding by increasing assisted living units and long-term care beds in communities across the region by 2008, which will support a growing seniors’ population in the region.
The NH Board has approved the establishment of a clinical quality committee for NH’s Mental Health and Addictions Services. The committee will work to improve mental health care and practice in NH sites as designated under the Mental Health Act. These include psychiatric units, observation units, and mental health centres.
“Quality committees are very effective at analyzing clinical decision-making and recommending steps to improve care for clients,” he said. “We’re confident that quality reviews under this new committee will improve outcomes in a collaborative way.
“We also expect feedback on improving our mental health and addictions services as we make those areas the focus of the 2007 NH Community Consultation.”
The next board meeting will take place in January 2007 in Prince George. Additional board meetings in 2007 will take place in Prince Rupert, Vanderhoof, and Fort St. John.
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