Heliport opens in Trail at KBR hospital
By Contributor
Air transport for patients of the Kootenay Boundary got a lift as the community celebrated the opening of a new $825,000 Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital heliport on Thursday, Sept. 16.
“The new heliport will reduce patient transfers from approximately four-plus hours by road ambulance, in ideal conditions, to an impressive 20 minutes by helicopter,” said Colin Mayes, Member of Parliament for Okanagan-Shuswap. “Unprecedented investments under Canada’s Economic Action Plan, such as the support provided for the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital Heliport, will help us continue to rise above the economic slowdown and will lay the foundation for economic growth and future prosperity for many years to come.”
The federal government provided $400,000 of the total project cost through a Community Adjustment Fund grant from Western Economic Diversification Canada. Signature sponsor Kootenay Savings Community Foundation and West Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital District each contributed $100,000 and Teck Resources Ltd. provided $50,000. Fortis BC came on board with $25,000 and the remaining funds came from local businesses, organizations and residents.
The new heliport complies with current Transport Canada safety standards for transports. During daylight hours, the heliport will save valuable time in transporting high acuity patients by eliminating the need for the current ambulance transfer to or from Trail Airport.
“As a regional funding partner for health services, we were pleased to support this community-driven initiative to add to a service in Trail that will have potential benefits for patients from any of our communities. I applaud the efforts that made this possible,” said Marguerite Rotvold, WKBRHD Chair.
“This is a joint effort of the Kootenay Savings Community Foundation and the employees of Kootenay Savings Credit Union,” said Brent Tremblay, Kootenay Savings President and CEO. “As a community-based financial institution, we believe that it is important to support local initiatives and we are very proud of all of our employees for their fundraising efforts for the heliport.”
In April of 2008, the Lower Columbia Community Development Team (LCCDT) Health & Hospital Committee commissioned a helipad conceptual design study to illustrate the feasibility of a heliport at KBRH. The results formed the basis to move forward with the engineering detailed design work. Funding for detailed design phase was generously donated by the City of Trail, Regional District of Kootenay Boundary, Community Futures of Greater Trail and local residents. The KBRH Health Foundation agreed to accept funds on behalf of the project, as did the City of Trail, which also managed the project. Private land adjacent to the hospital was donated by Albert and Miriam Kryski family.
The heliport was a culmination of years of hard work and effort.
“In the fall of 2006 two members of the Critical Care Team came to the Health and Hospital Committee of the Lower Columbia Community Development Team,” said Don Nutini, Committee Chair. “In critical care circles, the expression of the Golden Hour is well known – the importance of quick and direct patient transport to a regional hospital with as few transfers as possible is critical. We accepted and saw the extreme value in the challenge. We initiated the plan for a heliport at KBRH and worked tirelessly from 2006 until 2008 confirming support, design and initiating a fund raising program. The rest is now history. The key is this was all done by volunteers from the West Kootenay-Boundary communities.”
“Trail City Council was extremely pleased to get involved with a project that the entire community and West Kootenay Region really got behind. The City appreciates all the work done by the LCCDT and would like to thank all of the corporate sponsors and others who donated to this legacy healthcare project. It is gratifying to see the years of hard work pay off and we look forward to significant improvements in patient care as a result,” said Trail Mayor Dietr Bogs.
Thursday’s event also marked the ceremonial hand-off of the heliport to Interior Health, which will assume ownership and operate and maintain the heliport for patients.
“On behalf of Interior Health and the board of directors, I’d like to applaud the tremendous community enthusiasm and support that went into this project. Our community partnerships are vital to enhancing the services we provide, and I’d like to thank everyone who made this addition to Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital possible,” said Norman Embree, IH Board Chair.
