Monday, August 23 2010
The Gabriola Health Care Society (GHCS) has accepted an offer of free land on which to build a community-owned medical clinic from Dr. Bob Rooks of Potlatch Holdings.
GHC Foundation President Brenda Fowler said at a general meeting Tuesday at the Roxy, that the property is ideal as it is at the top of Church Street, close to the ambulance garage, the fire hall and the helicopter pad.
As previously reported, the society wants to build a permanent community-owned medical clinic and emergency room for doctors currently operating out of Twin Beaches. In the process they would like to expand the emergency room to three beds and increase the size of the clinic, in the hopes of attracting a third doctor who is willing to work on call to the island. Although Gabriola already has four doctors on the island, only two are covering after-hour emergencies. The society believes a third emergency doctor is needed to prevent them from burning out.
Also as previously reported, the Gabriola Women’s Institute (WI) first offered their land beside the Post Office on South Road for free. When the society decided the space was not large enough for possible future expansion, Gabriolans Clyde and Andrew Coats offered to subdivide off a parcel of land for the clinic on the ferry hill on North Road for $100,000 and tax concessions.
At Tuesday’s general meeting, Gabriolan Jamie Lawrence asked what the terms or conditions of the Rooks offer were. Fowler said: “When we first went to see Dr. Rooks in March, the offer was more complicated than this because he was trying to accommodate several things in his offer to us. He said: ‘I will give the community the road’ (that would be the fire access from Spruce to Church road), ‘I will give the foundation land for the clinic, and in return I would like the foundation to go the community and get my land divided into four severances’ ”.
The board “decided that we didn’t want to become part of that discussion”, Fowler said, “… so that’s why we met with Coats and took him up on his offer”. She said Rooks was off the island when they made that decision. She said when he returned Rooks “learned what had occurred” and called with a less “complex” offer. She said the offer as it now stands was a better one “because this one affects only us”. She said Rooks has also offered to pay for the survey, site preparation, and road installation.
Fowler said under the current deal the road access would only cover the extent of the clinic property, and that the clinic had to be built within five years. She was not sure five years from when.
The 4.1 acres Rooks is offering the society will have to be rezoned from Forestry to Institutional, Fowler said. She said there is similar zoning in the immediate vicinity and noted that planners usually prefer that to be the case in rezoning applications. She added that they had met with Planner Chris Jackson and Trustees Sheila and Malcolmson and Deborah Ferens, and were told that the rezoning process could take six months to two years to complete. Fowler added that the trustees and planner had said if asked they would make the application a top priority, and would waive half the application costs.
Reached for comment Malcolmson clarified that: “Trustee Ferens and I met separately with the Health Care Society reps, when they were discussing the Coats property, but did not and cannot make promises on behalf of the (Local Trust Committee (LTC)). The LTC could receive a request to sponsor the application cost, from the LTC’s own budget. This was done with the Commons, Borsuk density transfer, and the Coats density transfer the Gabriola Conservancy sponsored. The LTC would discuss and vote on that in a public meeting”.
Malcolmson added that rezoning takes a minimum of nine months, “and the LTC would have to consider how to prioritise such an application against its current top priority which is the OCP review”. She said the LTC has not received a rezoning application or a request for fee sponsorship.
Fowler estimated they could begin building in April 2011, and that it would take 26 weeks to lockup. She thought it was possible the clinic could open late fall 2011. She said raising the million dollars necessary to build the clinic needed to be done quickly in order to attract another emergency doctor as soon as possible.
Fowler said local contractors have already volunteered to do much of the building, that Architrave has been helping with the design, and that a retired architect who specialised in medical clinics will consult with Architrave.
GHC Foundation President Brenda Fowler said at a general meeting Tuesday at the Roxy, that the property is ideal as it is at the top of Church Street, close to the ambulance garage, the fire hall and the helicopter pad.
As previously reported, the society wants to build a permanent community-owned medical clinic and emergency room for doctors currently operating out of Twin Beaches. In the process they would like to expand the emergency room to three beds and increase the size of the clinic, in the hopes of attracting a third doctor who is willing to work on call to the island. Although Gabriola already has four doctors on the island, only two are covering after-hour emergencies. The society believes a third emergency doctor is needed to prevent them from burning out.
Also as previously reported, the Gabriola Women’s Institute (WI) first offered their land beside the Post Office on South Road for free. When the society decided the space was not large enough for possible future expansion, Gabriolans Clyde and Andrew Coats offered to subdivide off a parcel of land for the clinic on the ferry hill on North Road for $100,000 and tax concessions.
At Tuesday’s general meeting, Gabriolan Jamie Lawrence asked what the terms or conditions of the Rooks offer were. Fowler said: “When we first went to see Dr. Rooks in March, the offer was more complicated than this because he was trying to accommodate several things in his offer to us. He said: ‘I will give the community the road’ (that would be the fire access from Spruce to Church road), ‘I will give the foundation land for the clinic, and in return I would like the foundation to go the community and get my land divided into four severances’ ”.
The board “decided that we didn’t want to become part of that discussion”, Fowler said, “… so that’s why we met with Coats and took him up on his offer”. She said Rooks was off the island when they made that decision. She said when he returned Rooks “learned what had occurred” and called with a less “complex” offer. She said the offer as it now stands was a better one “because this one affects only us”. She said Rooks has also offered to pay for the survey, site preparation, and road installation.
Fowler said under the current deal the road access would only cover the extent of the clinic property, and that the clinic had to be built within five years. She was not sure five years from when.
The 4.1 acres Rooks is offering the society will have to be rezoned from Forestry to Institutional, Fowler said. She said there is similar zoning in the immediate vicinity and noted that planners usually prefer that to be the case in rezoning applications. She added that they had met with Planner Chris Jackson and Trustees Sheila and Malcolmson and Deborah Ferens, and were told that the rezoning process could take six months to two years to complete. Fowler added that the trustees and planner had said if asked they would make the application a top priority, and would waive half the application costs.
Reached for comment Malcolmson clarified that: “Trustee Ferens and I met separately with the Health Care Society reps, when they were discussing the Coats property, but did not and cannot make promises on behalf of the (Local Trust Committee (LTC)). The LTC could receive a request to sponsor the application cost, from the LTC’s own budget. This was done with the Commons, Borsuk density transfer, and the Coats density transfer the Gabriola Conservancy sponsored. The LTC would discuss and vote on that in a public meeting”.
Malcolmson added that rezoning takes a minimum of nine months, “and the LTC would have to consider how to prioritise such an application against its current top priority which is the OCP review”. She said the LTC has not received a rezoning application or a request for fee sponsorship.
Fowler estimated they could begin building in April 2011, and that it would take 26 weeks to lockup. She thought it was possible the clinic could open late fall 2011. She said raising the million dollars necessary to build the clinic needed to be done quickly in order to attract another emergency doctor as soon as possible.
Fowler said local contractors have already volunteered to do much of the building, that Architrave has been helping with the design, and that a retired architect who specialised in medical clinics will consult with Architrave.
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