The commissioners for Whidbey General Hospital Monday night approved a proposal to replace computers for the facility’s fire suppression system.

The new monitoring system is expected to cost the hospital approximately $60,0000, which was higher than the original $50,000 estimate, hospital chief operating officer Hank Hanigan said.

He said the current monitoring system is obsolete. He said it is essentially a computer that was built in 1996 and added that it is difficult to find parts to maintain the system.

“This has gotten out of date frankly,” Hanigan said during the meeting.

Hospital Commissioner Grethe Cammermeyer questioned whether the new fire suppression monitoring system could be incorporated into the hospital’s plans for expansion. Hanigan said the monitoring system could be worked into the expansion.

Whidbey General Hospital is asking voters to approve during the November general election $50 million worth of bonds that would fund construction of a new wing at the hospital’s Coupeville campus.

The Whidbey General Hospital Foundation provided up to $25,000 worth of funding for the new computer while the hospital is responsible for the other $35,000.