Flin Flon’s new ER was the top item on the agenda at a well-attended Flin Flon and District Chamber of Commerce meeting on Tuesday, April 12.
Brent Lethbridge, chairman of the Northern Health Foundation, addressed attendees on fundraising needs. The foundation is leading efforts to fundraise the $2.4 million community contribution portion of the $25 million emergency room redevelopment project.
Lethbridge advised Chamber members that he would be contacting local business owners in the coming months, requesting funding support for the project.
The community will need to raise a further $829,000 to meet the local funding requirement for the project. $1,575,000 has been raised already in funds and government credits.
Lethbridge said that donations can be made up until the completion of the project, which is estimated to take two years.
Lethbridge expressed confidence that the community is capable of meeting that goal.
“We are approximately two-thirds of the way there,” he said, acknowledging major contributions from the Town of Creighton and the Rotary Club of Flin Flon, donations made through the Bollywood fundraiser, and individual donations from locals.
Lethbridge said that he saw the project as a great boost to the local economy, which would bring people in to the community, and “keep this town on the map.” He also surmised that investment in medical infrastructure for the region could be one possible route to economic development in Flin Flon.
The Flin Flon community and region must fundraise 10 per cent of the cost required to build the new emergency room, according to Manitoba provincial policy.
Earlier this month, the contract for the project was awarded to a Winnipeg construction firm, Fresh Projects Builders, at a price of $25 million, $3 million higher than the initial cost estimate of $22 million. As a result, the local funding requirement is set at $2.4 million, $200,000 more than the initial estimate.
