The City of Duncan has decided it wants to confer with other local governments in the region on the future of the existing Cowichan District Hospital on Gibbins Road after endorsing its own vision for the site.
Council had unanimously voted at its meeting on Jan. 27 to submit a resolution at the next AGM of the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities calling for the current hospital be maintained as a mental health or rehabilitation facility following the opening of the new approximately $1.5 billion hospital that is under construction on Bell McKinnon Road, and scheduled for opening in 2027. The AGM will be held in Nanaimo in April.
But at the council meeting on Feb. 24, council decided to withdraw that motion and direct staff to prepare a joint letter with the Municipality of North Cowichan requesting that all regional government bodies be provided an opportunity to participate in the consultations on the future use of the current and aging hospital site.
Paige MacWilliam, the city’s director of corporate services, told council that since Jan. 27, a meeting was held between North Cowichan Mayor Rob Douglas and Duncan Mayor Michelle Staples and they decided that it might be more tactful to submit a letter jointly from both municipalities asking for confirmation from government and health officials that engagement will take place in which both municipalities will be included.
Coun. Tom Duncan, who made the motion calling for the current hospital be maintained as a mental health or rehabilitation facility, said he agrees with the change to a more regional approach to the issue.
“I see this as a better way to go, but I do want to make sure that it remains high in the minds of the Vancouver Island Health Authority Group and our other communities,” he said.
Staples said she thinks the joint letter with North Cowichan should indicate the desire for all regional government bodies to be allowed to participate in the consultations regarding the future use of the old hospital.
The motion was passed unanimously.
Westley Davidson, chief project officer for the construction of the new hospital, said in December that there are no plans at this time for the future of the old one. However, he said he’s taking the lead in Island Health’s efforts to eventually decide the future of the old hospital because there’s so much community interest in it, but nothing has been discussed at Island Health, from the CEO on down, on determining what will happen with the old hospital because Island Health is too concentrated on the new hospital at this time.
