The Cariboo Regional District is contributing funding to support the construction of a childcare centre with Interior Health.
Finding a childcare and daycare centre in the Cariboo-Chilcotin is one of the main reasons bringing in long-term healthcare professionals to the region has been difficult, says Al Richmond, Chair of the Cariboo-Chilcotin Regional Hospital District Board (CCRHD).
“A husband and wife, both healthcare professionals, said they couldn’t relocate to Williams Lake if they couldn’t come up and find a daycare,” Richmond said.
He adds that Williams Lake, in particular, is lacking in daycares, as well as most of the Cariboo-Chilcotin.
At the July 11 Cariboo Regional District Board Meeting, the CCRHD Board agreed to contribute to addressing the issue. The Board approved a $100,000 contribution, or up to 40 percent, to Interior Health towards a project by the Cariboo-Chilcotin School District 17, that will convert the Columneetza Dormitory into a childcare centre.
Richmond CCRHD’s contribution comes with a ‘subject’ that spaces in the childcare centre be reserved for healthcare professionals.
“This is all part of our recruit and retention strategy for making the region more attractive to healthcare professionals,” Richmond says. “So we have a seeding on it, we’ll provide interior health with that, those monies to contribute towards that project.”
The budget for Interior Health’s and School District 27’s ‘dedicated daycare project’ is still being finalized while the project gets underway. Richmond, says, the CCRHD will wait and see the final budget to see if it will be able to re-alocate more funding contributions.
Richmond believes creating more childcare spaces will be essential in recruiting more healthcare professionals to the region.
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