Sneak peak at new WFN health facility

WESTBANK FIRST NATION – Participants at a Westbank First Nation development conference got first looks at designs for the new Westbank First Nation health facility today.

The private health care building is proposed for WFN land overlooking Okanagan Lake and the south slopes. It's envisioned as a 200,000 square-foot full-scale private hospital providing surgeries and health care for First Nations and anyone who can afford it. The $120-million medical centre is tentatively scheduled to open in 2016. It's a partnership with a private equity firm and the band is in discussions for a research partnership with The Mayo Clinic, Chief Robert Louie has said. It's expected to provide 100 beds and 400 new jobs to the area.

As a self-governing band, the WFN has no restraints about private two-tier medicine.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Marshall Jones at mjones@infotelnews.ca, call 250-718-2724 or tweet @marshalljones23

—This story was edited Nov. 6 from its original version. It clarifies the project's relationship with The Mayo Clinic and removed a statement that phone calls to Westbank First Nation were not returned. We regret the errors.