Contrast the Funding of Kelowna and Vernon Hospitals with the lower Mainland Municipality of Surrey !

KELOWNA AND VERNON HOSPITAL EXPANSION GETS GREEN LIGHT
For Immediate Release 2007 HEALTH0052-000566 May 4, 2007 Ministry of Health

The Central Okanagan Regional Hospital District has agreed to provide 40 per cent of the capital funding for the KGH project with the remainder of funding provided by the government of British Columbia through Interior Health. “We’re pleased to contribute to the expansion of Kelowna General Hospital,” said Robert Hobson, chair of the Central Okanagan Regional Hospital District. “This welcomed project will have a significant impact on how health-care services are delivered to residents throughout our region.”

The North Okanagan/Columbia Shuswap Regional Hospital District (NOCSRHD)
will contribute 40 per cent of the capital funding for this project with the government of British Columbia, through Interior Health, funding the remainder. “We’re very supportive of this project and thrilled to see it moving forward,” said Rhona Martin, chair of NOCSRHD. “This new diagnostic and treatment building will be a great benefit for our North
Okanagan Columbia Shuswap residents.”

RFP ISSUED FOR SURREY OUTPATIENT HOSPITAL
For Immediate Release 2007HEALTH0103-001136 Sept. 17, 2007

All health services will be funded by the Province of B.C. through Fraser Health, in keeping with the principles of the Canada Health Act. The new outpatient hospital is part of the Surrey Health Services Capacity Initiative with a value of more than $200 million to address Surrey’s future health needs and ease congestion at Surrey Memorial Hospital.
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Don Quixote Note: This matter was taken by Vernon as a resolution to UBCM but it has not been endorsed! (Click on image to enlarge)
A response from Health Minister George Abbott about hospital funding and DON QUIXOTE's reply!

I orginally thought that this was just another sunshine tax for the heartland but investigation shows the Provincial Government is screwing the Northland, and Victoria Island equally. All the resolution that City Council is pursuing at UBCM in September is saying is that ALL property tax payers be on an equal footing. It seems incredible that a residential taxpayer and the owner of the local pub or Bank in Vernon pay towards a new hospital but their counterparts in Vancouver do not!