Connie Tabbert
Editor
BEACHBURG — The loan for the renovations and addition at the Whitewater Medical Building is down to about $20,000 following a recent donation from the Beachburg Lions Club.
When it was time to do the addition and renovations at the building on Robertson Drive in Beachburg in 2011, the Lanark Renfrew Health and Community Services organization (LRHCS) were short about $93,000 of the $222,000 required, noted John Jordan, executive director of that organization.
Following a presentation by the organization about the shortfall, the council at Whitewater Region Township agreed to an interest-free loan so the work could go ahead, he said.
The other money came from the Whitewater Medical Building Board, the LRHCS and through the small capital funding program from Champlain Local Health Integration Network.
Tuesday morning, Peter Sattelberger, chair of the building board, Lions club members Tony Mercier and Claire Martin, who is president, and LRHCS board member Bev Buchanan gathered in the lower level of the centre to present a $10,000 cheque to township treasurer Marsha Hawthorne.
Mr. Mercier brought the idea to the Lions club of donating a substantial amount of money to help pay down the mortage and members agreed, he said.
“It was a unanimous vote to donate $10,000,” Mr. Mercier said. “The club members recognize the value the medical centre has made to this community.”
Mr. Mercier, who is also a building board member, noted last year the board dug into its savings and donated $3,000 and this past spring, donated another $10,000 from its reserves.
Mr. Sattelberger said, “We are very thankful the township agreed to carry the loan.”
Mr. Mercier noted the township owns the building, but it’s the board who takes care of it.
“We do the maintenance and upkeep,” he said.
The tenant of the building is LRHCS, who pays rent to the medical centre board.
Mr. Sattelberger said 1,500 square feet was added onto the former building, which included a lower and upper portion. The new addition provided a new reception area and administration space upstairs, renovations to exam rooms, the addition of a triage room and the program room in the lower level. He said more administrative space could be used.
More exam room space is still required, he added. The national standards are 2.5 rooms per health practitioner, he said. This allows for more efficiency because while a patient is getting ready in one room, another patient can be seen by the health practitioner in another room.
However, at the WBCHC, there is only one room per health practitioner, he pointed out.
Once the current loan is paid off, Mr. Sattelberger is hopeful there can be another addition to the building.
