NANAIMO — Some considerable capital expenditures in the short and long-term plans are behind a nearly $50 million budget passed this week.
Directors on the Nanaimo Regional Hospital District board adopted their 2026 budget on Tuesday, March 24, with an expected tax requisition of $49.5 million due from taxpayers this summer.
The hefty sum is in large part due to previous and expected future capital investments the Hospital District will make as part of its required 40 per cent contributions to all major upgrades at Nanaimo Regional District Hospital.
“For a number of years, we weren’t raising enough money, and we have to put money aside, because this is what we’re required to pay,” Janice Perrino, Hospital District board chair, said. “It’s a very tough pill to swallow, and I know this is a tough conversation for all of us, but we have to tax enough that we can put money away so that we’re not paying huge amounts of interest for decades to come.”
The 2026 budget calls for an increase of 21 per cent over 2025, equating to $63.96 per $100,000 in assessed property value.
Currently under construction, the Nanaimo Cancer Centre is due to open in 2028, while a long-term care facility in Lantzville is on a similar timeline.
The provincial government recently confirmed concept and business planning work is underway for a catheterization lab and patient tower at NRGH, with the cath lab potentially opening by 2030 or 2031.
Perrino estimates the total contribution needed from local taxpayers to fund just those projects alone will be in the neighbourhood of $750 million.
She told NanaimoNewsNOW they’re taxing as much as they can now in a bid to reduce interest costs and the burden on future generations.
“We’re putting the money away, and then that way, when the government says, ‘all right, we need to pay for the long-term care facility, or we need to pay for the cath lab, or we need to pay for the tower expansion,’ whatever it is, we’re going to be able to do as much as possible to minimize the future debt.”
The Board previously committed to an initial investment of $50 million, as part of their 40 per cent contribution, to help kickstart the cath lab planning process.
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