Donation makes helipad possible
By Contributor
Boundary-Similkameen MLA John Slater was joined today by Interior Health’s Board Chair Norman Embree and Interior Health’s chief executive officer Dr. Robert Halpenny to announce the building of a heliport for the Boundary Hospital in Grand Forks. Heliport construction is possible thanks to generous donations from the Clifton family.
The Clifton family has given Boundary Hospital a total of $150,000. The first donation came from Jean Clifton who asked that her gift of $50,000 be put towards a substantial project, and that it remain anonymous until after her death. An additional $100,000 was received from the Clifton estate in 2010.
After consultation with the Clifton family it was decided to honour the memory of Gordon and Jean Clifton, long time Grand Forks and Christina Lake residents, by using the funds to build a heliport.
“The addition of a heliport at the Boundary Hospital will improve the timeliness of life saving care for area residents,” said MLA Slater. “The Clifton’s generosity will truly make an ongoing difference to the
community.”
The Boundary Hospital heliport will be used by the dedicated emergency helicopter BC Ambulance Services has based in Kamloops to serve residents of the southern interior.
In conjunction with today’s announcement Interior Health is issuing a “Request for Proposals” (RFP) for the planning and design phase of the heliport project.
“Planning and design work is expected to get underway later this year, bringing the heliport that much closer to reality,” said IH Board Chair Norman Embree. “I’d like to personally thank the Clifton family for their community commitment. Their generosity helps us ensure that patients who need to move to higher levels of care get there quickly and safely.”
Interior Health anticipates the project will be complete in the spring of 2013 at which time Transport Canada will conduct final certification.
