The Houston Health Centre, built in 1982 and renovated in 2009, could use $4.6 million in repairs and upgrades, suggests a report prepared for the Northern Health Authority in 2019.
But none are at the level of being critical to the integrity of the facility or safety and security of its occupants, the report indicates.
Released just this year to the general public, the report also suggests, in 2019 dollars, that a replacement would be in the $7.2 million range.
As it is, the centre is undergoing a significant upgrade this budget year in the form of a new air handling unit, the all-in term for a system that circulates air and heats and cools it as needed.
The new unit, at a cost of $866,715, will replace one that’s no longer working properly and which does not have the capability to cool air.
Various facets of the current system and their suggested replacement costs were noted in the 2019 report as being beyond their useful life.
Under the heading of “architectural millwork renewal,” equipment and furnishings were generally termed as being beyond their useful life, carrying a ‘necessary, not yet critical’ priority at a cost of nearly $246,000.
The ‘necessary, not yet critical’ priority is attached to other items and functions such as replacing the fire alarm system, replacing exterior lighting and replacing the ceiling lifts installed in patients’ rooms.
The exterior doors are listed as ‘beyond useful life’ and also come under the ‘necessary, not yet critical’ priority for replacement, nothing there is a lack of an automatic door opener, something that does not meet current code standards.
Complete replacement of the exterior doors could cost, in 2019 dollars, in the $92,000 range.
The 2019 report is called a facility condition index and Northern Health, like other agencies, uses them to gauge what’s needed to repair and maintain facilities and to decide when new construction is needed.
These are then used to set priorities and budgets each year.
In releasing the 2019 assessment of the Houston Health Centre, Northern Health did note the assessments should be treated as a snapshot of the time in which they were prepared.
“These reports are a point in time assessment and are meant to enable a comparison across facilities. The dollar values outlined would not be adequate with respect to the cost of repairing items nor for the replacement of the facility in question,” the authority indicated.
The last significant renovation of the health centre dates back to 2009 when the ambulance service was moved out and that space turned into space for four complex care beds and two short-stay beds.
The ambulance service was then relocated to a building next door which went through renovations of its own to accommodate paramedics and vehicles.