The Okanagan Similkameen Regional Hospital District (OSRHD) voted to increase how much funding they will provide to Interior Health in order to keep a project on the books for 2025.
The board was unanimous on April 17 in approving an additional $143,412 in funding in order to keep upgrades for the Penticton Regional Hospital in 2025's budget.
The additional funds will come out of reserves and will not change the expected tax requisition of $138 for the average residential property valued at $666,000.
Following Interior Health's presentation to the OSRHD in January of 2025, the district's board voted to scale back the funding request to 30 per cent instead of 40 per cent, which the board also did in 2024.
As a result of the 2024 scale back, Interior Health pushed back the upgrades to replace the Penticton Regional Hospital's distribution and piping system, which provides medical gas, oxygen and vacuum throughout the facility.
The Central Pavilion's piping and outlets were originally constructed in 1952 and the South Pavilion was built in 1969.
Interior Health came back to the board to ask for the additional funding to avoid having to push that project into 2026.
OSRHD board chair and Oliver Mayor Martin Johansen also announced at the April 17 meeting that he had met with Minister of Health Josie Osborne and hand-delivered the board's letter calling on the province to make up the funding the hospital district wasn't able to provide to IH.
As a result of the scale-back by the OSRHD, IH cut plans to purchase a bus and a call-program for nurses at the McKinney Place long-term care facility in Oliver were both cut from Interior Health's 2025 budget.
Johansen said the meeting was productive, and that while there had been no commitment one way or another on making up the funding, that there was a greater review taking place of the health authority system and hospital districts' place in providing funding.
In particular, he noted that the government is looking at potentially funding transfer hospitals like 麻豆精选 or Kamloops where they treat patients from across province instead of putting it onto local residents to fund their upgrades.
"Things are being looked at and the reduced funding from our hospital district I think is helping that conversation come to the forefront," said Johansen.
Director and Osoyoos Mayor Sue McKortoff pointed out that IH and the Desert Sun Counselling had been set up to have a conversation by the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen to collaborate and potentially share the usage of a bus the RDOS helped the counselling service purchase in 2024.
