The chief project officer for the construction of the new approximately $1.5-billion Cowichan District Hospital has made it clear there are no plans at this time for the future of the old CDH on Gibbins Road.
Westley Davidson, who provided an update on the development of the new hospital on Bell McKinnon Road to the Cowichan Valley Regional District鈥檚 committee of the whole on Nov. 27, said planning for the future of the old CDH is not part of the business case for the new hospital, and is not part of his expertise in Island Health.
However, he said he鈥檚 taking the lead in Island Health鈥檚 efforts to eventually decide the future of the old CDH, which opened in 1967, because there鈥檚 so much community interest in it.
But Davidson said 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 CDH at this time.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 stress how much energy is going into this,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot from our side going into the design of the new CDH. Our team has been working extended hours for three years trying to figure this out and now they鈥檙e working on operation readiness, doing exactly the same thing. There is so much energy and effort that is going on here that we don鈥檛 have time to take our eyes off the ball and look at the existing hospital.鈥�
Community activist Peter Rusland began a petition in the summer of 2023, which has garnered almost 5,000 signatures so far, in an effort to convince Island Health and senior and local levels of government to keep the old CDH in public hands when the new hospital opens so it can continue to be used for medical purposes.
The petition, which Rusland hopes will see more than 10,000 people sign, calls on the provincial government and Island Health to preserve, re-purpose and recruit staff for future uses of the old hospital, and that it should be partnered with the new facility on Bell McKinnon Road.
Many of the people who have signed the petition to date have indicated they would like to see the old CDH repurposed for public, medically related uses, including long-term care, cancer treatment and Alzheimer care, and some are suggesting it could be used for detox beds and/or keeping the current ER open as a walk-in clinic.
Davidson said Island Health has a site team in place at the old hospital that are keeping the facility running until the new one is ready to open, but again stressed that no one has any plans for the existing hospital at this time.
"But we plan to have some community consultations on this issue in the not-too-distant future."
The new hospital is scheduled to open in 2027.
