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Moving St. Paul’s Hospital to involve ‘extensive consultation’

New location bad for West End, says NDP

The agency that operates St. Paul’s Hospital downtown on Burrard Street unveiled plans Monday to replace the aging facility and build a new $1-billion “state of the art” hospital and health care campus on an 18.5-acre site adjacent to the city’s train station at Main and Terminal.

But in announcing the news for a new hospital on the False Creek Flats, Providence Health Care left questions unanswered about the future of health care services in the West End and whether the entire hospital will be demolished and its land sold for redevelopment. The land has been assessed at $360 million.

“There’s been no decisions whether we’re selling land or not,” said Neil MacConnell, a former Providence manager who was rehired to lead the project, which requires the agency to raise $500 million to match a $500 million investment from the provincial government.

Providence Health Care
Darlene MacKinnon, chief clinical planning officer for Providence Health Care, and Neil MacConnell, project lead for Providence's new hospital proposal, unveiled plans Monday for a new $1-billion hospital on the False Creek Flats. Photo Jennifer Gauthier

MacConnell, speaking at a news conference at Providence’s offices on Hornby Street, cautioned the agency still needs to consult with West End residents about health care needs before finalizing plans for the century-old hospital, which needs more than $80 million in seismic upgrades.

In a subsequent news conference in Victoria, Health Minister Terry Lake also emphasized the need for “extensive consultation” with residents. But, he said, St. Paul’s will be redeveloped and proceeds will help pay for the new hospital on Station Street, which borders the Downtown Eastside and is 2.9 kilometres from the old hospital.

“But again, the consultation process will determine what remains at that site,” Lake said. “We’re not shutting the door, we need to hear from people.”

Whatever comes of the consultation, MacConnell confirmed there will be no emergency department in the West End, citing statistics that show 19 per cent of emergency room visits to St. Paul’s in the 2013/2014 fiscal year were from West End residents. And 80 per cent of those visits, he added, were “non-urgent.”

NDP West-End MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert said he was concerned about losing the hospital and its emergency department, especially since Premier Christy Clark announced plans in 2012 for renewal of St. Paul’s on its current site.

“If Christy Clark had fulfilled her promise she made in 2012, we would have a state-of-the-art health care tower at St. Paul’s Hospital already, and be renewing St. Paul’s Hospital to make it seismic safe,” Herbert told the Courier by telephone.

Herbert said he wouldn’t debate the need for a new hospital in the area known as the False Creek Flats. But, he said, his focus is on ensuring emergency services are available to downtown residents.

“You couldn’t really get to that site they’ve proposed for the new hospital during the Stanley Cup riots because the bridges, the viaducts and SkyTrain were all closed and buses weren’t really running,” he said of the chaos that erupted in June 2011 after the Vancouver Canucks lost to the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.“So it was a huge boon that we actually had a hospital downtown to serve those who were injured by the riot and impacted by the tear gas.”

A common message from MacConnell, Providence senior staff and doctors gathered at Monday’s news conference was that St. Paul’s Hospital is not just for West End residents and that it serves the Lower Mainland and rest of the province.

Dr. Julio Montaner of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS at St. Paul’s Hospital acknowledged “we are all emotionally attached” to the existing facility and it has a long tradition of serving West End residents.

But, he said, health care providers are running out of space at the hospital and work in “sub-optimal” conditions. He pointed out the B.C. Centre, like other health care providers, is offering care outside the hospital, which is line with the new model of bringing services to where people live.

“The reality is, we’re moving a few blocks away,” said Montaner, noting the new site is about a 10-minute drive from St. Paul’s and more accessible for many people. “It’s not like we’re going to another continent.”

Dr. Don Sin, a respirologist at St. Paul’s, noted more than 70 per cent of patients who visit the hospital are from outside the “core region.” And, Sin said, 50 per cent of visits come from outside of Greater Vancouver. Wait times to see doctors will double by 2020 in the existing facility, he added.

Dianne Doyle, president and CEO of Providence Health Care, told reporters the decision to build a new facility on the False Creek Flats came after staff conducted a detailed analysis of what it would take to renew the existing hospital.

Doyle said they concluded there would not be good value for money spent, no real improvement to in-patient services or an increase in the number of private rooms, which are key to preventing the spread of infections.

“It was not a good solution,” she said, noting Providence consulted with “world experts” to examine the cost and design of the proposed hospital on Station Street. “We do know in speaking to [financial] donors to date that there’s a lot more excitement about the opportunity to build on the Station Street site than we were able to generate in terms of support for a rebuild on the current site.”

Providence Health Care provided a list of program and services to be developed at the proposed facility that it says would not be possible at the current St. Paul’s Hospital. They include:

  • 24/7 primary care.
  • Chronic disease management services.
  • Up to 300 private beds.
  • Up to 250 beds for seniors.
  • Mental health and addictions beds, services and programs.
  • Non-acute medical services.
  • Laboratory.
  • Social housing.
  • Wellness and community care programs.
  • Research and teaching.
  • Community outreach programs.
  • Residential care beds.
  • A “low-risk birthing centre.”
  • End-of-life care

Providence’s plans call for the new hospital to be open by 2022.

VIDEO: The video below, provided by Providence Health Care, is a previous conceptualization of what a potential future redevelopment could look like at the new Sation Street site. The designs and concepts are not considered final. It's meant to show how a facility could be integrated into the site's neighbourhood, according to PHC.

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mhowell@vancourier.com