The Sun Peaks Health Centre is currently housed in a temporary, modular building.
Image Credit: Sun Peaks Health Centre
May 02, 2014 - 1:02 PM
SUN PEAKS — The province announced a grant to help the community of Sun Peaks develop a plan and determine the viability of an expanded health care centre.
The $50,000 grant from the Ministry of Health has been extended to the mountain resort municipality to help determine whether an expansion of the temporary health centre would fulfill a community need. The current health centre, created by the Sun Peaks Health Association in 2002, is run out of a modular building and is staffed by volunteers and physicians. The centre attempts to be open several days a week during the spring and summer and every day during the winter months. It also offers women's health clinics, flu shot clinics and physiotherapy.
"The Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality, Sun Peaks Health Association and the community have been working hard at promoting their vision of an expanded health centre for families, residents and tourists," said Lake. "This funding will help outline the business case for an expanded health centre."
The Sun Peaks service area includes Whitecroft, Louis Creek Valley and Heffley Lake and the population of the area can grow to more than 5,000 people in the winter. From 2012-13 the health centre, ski patrol and first responders dealt with about 2,000 patients.
"The Sun Peaks community is extremely pleased that this funding will support us to move forward with planning," said Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality mayor Al Raine. "We're excited to get moving on the project that will support the health of our visitors and area families; however we all want to make sure that we have a business model that makes sense."
The municipality will match the $500,000 that the Sun Peaks Health Association has raised and has committed to undertaking a major fundraising campaign to raise an additional $1.5 million to support an expanded facility.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Jennifer Stahn at jstahn@infotelnews.ca or call 250-819-3723. To contact an editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
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