Hornby Island's New Clinic
Page updated 31 Mar 2011
This
site is about the new Medical Clinic being constructed on
Hornby Island, British Columbia, Canada.
The new home for the HORNBY COMMUNITY HEALTH CLINIC is ready for use. The tenant, Vancouver Island Health Authority, starts moving in on April 1, and re-opens for normal operation next Wednesday, April 6. The dental bus stop will be ready for use in a month. This view is taken from Sollans Road 3 November 2010.
CONGRATULATIONS HORNBY - YOU HAVE DONE IT. OVER 400 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THE IS PROJECT IN DONATING TIME AND/OR MONEY. To be fair this includes friends of Hornby and friends of friends of Hornby. Still it's not bad for an island of 1075 persons.
Thanks to our resident architects this building will join the Hall as one of Hornby's special attractions. Interior features include twice as much floor space as the old building, two examination rooms, clear separation of public and treatment spaces, an adequate treatment room with space for two beds and a proper entrance for strecher cases.
There is still some outside work to be done, including a rain shelter for the ambulance entrance, a sun shelter for the dental bus, an auxiliary generator and landscaping in general.
Green initiatives include in-floor heating, an air-to water heat pump and roof water collection.
We do not yet have a number for the final cost, but there will be be no residual debt, and we have asked the Society to set up a sinking fund to make sure the money is in the bank when this building needs to be upgraded or replaced. Aside from VIHA stocking the emergency room, there has been no government money involved in the construction, so we have no obligations to anyone.
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Progress Report Budget Contacts Donations Floor Plan Photo Gallery Why a new clinic? |
The dental bus stop is projected to be ready for use sometime in April. We will have an official opening in May - right now we are busy.
The building has been leased to the Vancouver Island Health Authority for five years. VIHA provides medical services to Hornby Island in the form of two medical doctors and associated staff. The old clinic building which is owned by HIRRA will be taken over by Union Bay Credit Union, which will be moving from Shingle Spit.
Back at the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, the small group of back-to-the-land young professionals, artists and artisans who were forming a new culture on this forgotten island built themselves a medical clinic. At that time there were some 350 permanent residents, mainly young families. Now 35 years later we are well into the Age of Arthritis. The permanent population has tripled and the median age has doubled. In addition, in summer we have as many as 4000 extra people on the island indulging in sports from mild to extreme, with the predictable fallout of injuries.
In 2008, the Hornby & Denman Community Health Care Society (HDCHCS), decided the time has come to construct a new larger and more modern building - more suited to our current needs. In 2008, preliminary architectural plans were prepared and fundraising begun. A site was secured on Crown Land, adjacent to the current Health Care building, as shown in the sketch above (sketches courtesy of Michael McNamara).
The new clinic is double the size of the previous building, and features access from an emergency vehicle to/from the treatment room. The cost of the project was estimated at $534,000. It was expected that this would be reduced by $130,000 by donations of volunteer labour and equipment usage. In fact we have managed to complete the building without incurring any debt.
The building is owned by HDCHCS and will be available for rent to health providers no matter what form that may take in the future.
We commenced excavation and construction in the summer of 2009 summer, once we had sufficient money in the credit union to ensure that we could at least go to lockup. Lockup was achieved in summer 2010 and the building turned over for use as of April 1, 2011.
The response of volunteers and island tradesmen has been outstanding.
Further information is laid out in separate pages accessed by the links at the top right of the page, or in the sections below, which will be expanded and moved to separate pages later.
It was originally visualized that the new clinic building be attached to the existing Community Health Care building at 1965 Sollans Road. This however proved to be impractical, largely due to topography. The present building could not be expanded to the north because of the septic field, and could not be accessed on the west because of the farmers' market. The ambulance bay would have been too constricted and too public.
The location finally selected has a public entrance from the existing parking lot and a separate entrance for staff and for the ambulance. The ambulance entrance would be located opposite Roburn Road. There is space available to the east and west for future additions if needed. A place has been reserved for the dental bus.
The dental bus will be relocated to the same site - shown near the bottom (east) on the sketch.
The building is sited on a parcel of Crown Land on which HIRRA, the Hornby Island Residents and Ratepayers Association, has recently obtained a 30-year lease.
The building is owned and will be maintained by the Hornby & Denman Community Health Care Society. It is leased to VIHA,the Vancouver Island Health Authority, which operates the clinic and hires the staff.
The building features in-floor heating, with an air-to liquid heat pump. Roof water is collected for non-potable use.
The project has been planned, funded, financed and built by local donations of time and money, so that the building and equipment are owned outright by the Society.
The original budget budget is presented on the Budget page - go to Budget
Funds for this project are segregated from the Society's general accounts. The Society is a registered charity and donations are tax-deductable.
A special committee, the Hornby Island Health Care Centre Development Committee, was set up by the Board of the Society to be responsible for this project. This has been segregated because while the Society is responsible to both islands, this is a project for one island only. The committee has operated at arms length from the Society, but under its mantle.
While the building is essentially paid for and tthe funding drive is complete, donations will still be accepted to be used for medical equipment. Donations may be made in cash, in kind or in securities. A tax receipt will be issued by the Society for all donations of $25.00 and over. Please make cheques payable to HDCHCS (Clinic Fund).
The present clinic which is housed in an engineered home has served its purpose for many years, but has always had some limitations, with regard to access for stretchers, space in the examination room, soundproofing, ventilation and privacy in general. It is no longert deemed suitable for an emergency facility. Meanwhile, the population has aged, there are more seniors and less children, the modes of health care and funding have changed. The Society has decided to address all the problems at once and replace the existing building and move to a better site.
this page designed and donated by Doug