March 21
Fifteen joined this ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome Lady Minto Hospital Foundation Executive Director Eric Jacobsen, supported by members of the Foundation Board. After our Land Acknowledgement, Eric shared that he is “excited and delighted” to live and work on Salt Spring Island. Delighted to be raising his family here, he praised Salt Spring as the kindest, safest (both emotionally and physically) community he had ever experienced. He alluded to our depiction as a “controversy surrounded by water” as a strength, for in Eric’s opinion, that deep caring and ability to speak and debate freely is to be cherished. Often caught up in issues and concerns, Eric’s love for Salt Spring resonated with many at this gathering.

As expected, we began our conversation with the Foundation’s housing project. Currently being renovated, this project – estimated to cost nearly $10 million – will provide 18 affordable homes for healthcare workers and their families, in units ranging from studios to three bedrooms, with rents set at 30% of the healthcare worker’s income.

The purpose of this project is to address healthcare employee recruitment and retention, one of the most serious challenges to the full functioning of our Lady Minto Hospital. Eric cited a recent study identifying Salt Spring as one of the 10 least affordable places to live in BC. While doctors may be able to afford housing, too many essential healthcare workers simply cannot. A visionary project beyond the normal bounds of hospital foundations, the Bittancourt Healthcare Staff Housing Project is, in the opinion of Eric and the Foundation, one of many necessary steps toward addressing the dearth of affordable housing for our healthcare workers.

Eric was hired just over a year ago, several years after the acquisition of the SeaBreeze Inne—almost exactly three years ago. Praising the vision of the former Foundation Board that saw the SeaBreeze Inne property as a solution, Eric and the current Board are new. While Eric acknowledged there were some bumps in the road, their focus is entirely on seeing the project through to completion so it can provide good, affordable homes for healthcare workers. The Foundation Board, along with a very experienced Owner’s Representative, is keeping a watchful eye on construction progress. The Foundation, with expert advisors, is also working on setting the management policy and structure so that day-to-day operations can be taken on by a professional management organization when the time comes.

Many questions still need to be answered.

• Clearly, providing housing options for Lady Minto Hospital workers, paramedics, and nurses is essential—but which other healthcare workers might be welcomed as well? Hoping to house a wide range of local healthcare workers, Eric shared that only that morning, he had gotten a call asking if local dentists could rent homes at the SeaBreeze.
• What will happen if a SeaBreeze resident is no longer employed as a healthcare worker? How directly is housing tied to employment? Might tenants who are no longer in healthcare jobs be charged a non-subsidized rate?
• How many units will be reserved for the short-term needs of locum doctors and travel nurses?

Despite some unanswered questions, Eric is clear about the steps forward, which include completing the renovation of the SeaBreeze, welcoming residents, and fundraising toward reducing the $5 million construction debt to ensure the project is truly affordable for tenants and financially sustainable for the Foundation.

Eric and his Board are delighted by the widespread support of the community, as well as of Islands Trustees at both the local and Executive level, in the Foundation’s recent application to change SeaBreeze zoning from commercial to residential: https://ladymintofoundation.com/news/healthcare-worker-housing-project-receives-final-approval/. 

Eric believes that the SeaBreeze experience has positioned the Foundation team well to provide positive input to the Local Islands Trust as they proceed with a partial review of our Official Community Plan (OCP): https://islandstrust.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/SS-BL-434_2020-10_OCP_Vol1-2.pdf. He plans to use his experience with the SeaBreeze to suggest a template for similar future projects so they do not encounter the same challenges. While the details will be shared during the OCP review, a glimpse of his suggestions includes redefining the term “affordable housing” to explicitly include both social housing and affordable workforce housing, and revising the affordable housing agreement to accommodate this broader definition.

Eric spoke with deep gratitude for the generosity of Salt Springers. While charitable giving is decreasing across Canada, Salt Spring continues to show unwavering support for healthcare—as witnessed by the Foundation’s recent fundraising for the hospital, including the recently renovated Lady Minto Emergency Department: https://www.islandhealth.ca/news/news-releases/lady-minto-emergency-department-expansion-underway.

While one could worry that a large portion of this generosity comes from a limited number of well-heeled, aging residents, Eric believes that, although this is something to monitor, Salt Spring also continues to attract unique community-minded people who are inspired to give. Against a backdrop of dropping community giving nationally, he suggested our unique community may be somewhat insulated from those trends. Interested in learning more? Eric loves one-on-one conversations. Just ask: eric.jacobsen@ladymintofoundation.com

Eric and his Foundation recognize, though, that getting younger people to donate is critically important. He told us that every dollar matters and that $50 from a young working family is as meaningful as any donation can be. To nurture this interest among the younger generation, the Foundation is planning a wide range of activities – from its popular Golf Event (July 5, 2025), so generously supported by local businesses – to new initiatives like music events and an arts series hosted in the homes of Salt Springers. Intrigued? You may want to sign up for the Lady Minto Hospital Foundation newsletter: https://ladymintofoundation.com/newsletter/.

So, what’s next? Founded in 1993 to support the needs of Lady Minto Hospital, the Foundation’s constitution was changed in 2022 to broaden its focus to a wide variety of local healthcare needs. This widened scope continues, and Eric and his Board are developing an ambitious Five-Year Plan that, while continuing to support Lady Minto Hospital, also includes:

• Supporting Primary Care: The Foundation is watching the progress of Salt Spring’s new Primary Care Network: https://southislanddivision.ca/primary-care-network/, made far more real with Island Health’s recent announcement of funding for up to 10–11 full-time equivalent healthcare workers. While funding for staffing appears secure, the needed location is still under discussion. Eric and the Foundation are standing by to support any required capital costs.
• Healthcare Housing Portal: A newly revamped website portal to help healthcare workers find housing is about to be launched. Eric is convinced this partnership – now open to all local healthcare providers – will result in significantly greater impact through a more robust, better-advertised site with improved functionality for both tenants and landlords.
• Marketing Salt Spring to Healthcare Workers: The Foundation is partnering to support a marketing campaign designed to attract healthcare workers to Salt Spring. When asked if the Foundation might consider partnering (and helping fund) broader worker recruitment efforts (possibly with the Chamber?), the answer was a resounding “Yes!”
• Kings Lane Housing Project: Eric and the Foundation are also listening carefully to conversations about the Gulf Islands Senior Resident Association’s (GISRA) proposed 50-unit Kings Lane housing project: https://gulfislandsdriftwood.com/kings-lane-housing-concept-gets-early-support/. Aware of its proximity to Lady Minto Hospital, could the Foundation consider fundraising for part of the cost in exchange for a number of units designated for healthcare workers?
• And, the list of possibilities goes on. . .

Convinced that success breeds success, Eric and the Foundation are confident that many of these visions – far beyond the scope of most hospital foundation boards – can be accomplished through the hard work of the Lady Minto Hospital Foundation team and the continued vision and generosity of our community.

On this bright note, we bid Eric and his team a grateful farewell—glad to have spent time with this young, energetic, and optimistic newcomer to our Island and confident that great things are in store for the Lady Minto Hospital Foundation. While we may not receive the same government funding as the multi-million-dollar Vancouver Island capital projects, we certainly have an ace in the hole: the powerful combination of the Foundation’s vision and our local generosity. (Thanks, Eric, and your entire Foundation team!)

Want to learn more? Eric was recently interviewed by CHiR.fm‘s Damian Inwood. Listen to this interview as well as many more at ASK Salt Spring Answered (https://open.spotify.com/show/14aIItcouBw3unc5ZtgPDL).