A new trauma centre and surgical tower in Prince George isn't on the top of Northern Health's priority list for capital projects, but it's something the health authority might consider in the future.
Northern Health spokesman Steve Raper said the plan outlined this week by Dr. Bert Kelly, executive director of the Northern Medical Society, is something worthy of further study.
"We're always looking at upgrading and improving our facilities and services wherever we can," Raper said.
Kelly is lobbying for a new surgical tower in Prince George, which would include operating rooms, a new trauma centre and an air ambulance helicopter landing pad. He's hoping the facility could be built and ready to go sometime in the next 10 years.
Raper said it's too early to get into specifics about what Prince George needs when it comes to trauma and surgical care, but planning for the future is already taking place.
"We're certainly not opposed to anything like that but with any type of major project or milestone in the next three, five, 10 years, we would work through the process," he said. "It would require a significant amount of engagement with the physicians to ensure we were building and putting into place the right pieces."
Raper said all capital projects regardless of scope are a consultative process between the health authority, the local hospital districts who help fund the infrastructure improvements and physicians who use the facilities.
The provincial government is the major funding partner for major projects and they must also be on board. Both Prince George Valemount Liberal MLA Shirley Bond and her election opponent NDP candidate Sherry Ogasawara said they would be willing to consider the plan for new facilities in Prince George.
From Northern Health's perspective, the groundwork for any capital project must first be laid by evaluating the region's needs and building a business case.
"A lot of it is understanding what our needs are in the future and we're pretty good at doing that," he said. "Part of that is putting the business case together, understanding what our needs are within that business case and then looking at what is it that's going to satisfy the needs of northerners."
Among the current capital priorities for Northern Health are a new hospital in Fort St. James and a new in-patient unit in Dawson Creek.
In Prince George the provincial government recently announced funding for a $10 million training centre to be built this year on the site of UHNBC. The new hospitals being built in Burns Lake and Haida Gwaii are other major projects which have recently gotten off the ground.
