By Angela Hill

Future of care home still unknown

Feb 23, 2011 | 3:43 PM

Even with the change in funding from the province, the future of the new Pineview Terrace Lodge remains unknown.

The province announced it would increase its share new health care facility to 80 per cent from 65 per cent of the project costs.

“We’re really pleased that when SUMA put that suggestion out there that the government is listening, but for us, as a city, it still comes down to, can we afford it? And council is going to have to look at our future needs and decide if this is a project that they want to fund,” said Robert Cotterill, the city manager in Prince Albert.

The amount now owed by the city as their part of the local share is slightly more than $3 million, he said.

Surrounding rural municipalities contribute to the local share as well.

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“The health region will be communicating with all of the municipalities that we have been asking to participate with the local funding,” Doug Dahl, communications officer with the Prince Albert Parkland Health Region.

There have been concerns voiced from several of the municipalities paying the community share about how the share is divided.

“I did send them an email yesterday basically saying that we’re not happy with the funding formula based on population because many of our residents are under the poverty line or around the poverty line,” Cotterill said.

The city feels that the amount owed should be divided by assessment and not based on the population from the census, he said.

For now, city management is waiting to hear officially from the health region.

“We’re expecting that we are going to get another letter from the health region asking us to reconsider,” Cotterill said.

Once they do, a report will be compiled looking at the new funding arrangement and previous concerns and submitted to council for consideration, he said.

The health region was hoping to take the new plans for the new Pineview Terrace Lodge to tender this spring, but under the old funding arrangement the city had indicated that they could not come up with their share.

Without the local share from the city and surrounding rural municipalities in place, the facility cannot go to tender.

ahill@panow.com