Health
Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid joined patients and their families today to officially open the new, clinical-support building as part of the B.C. government's investment in the BC Children's and BC Women's redevelopment project.
"We are very excited to see the completion of the clinical-support building - a step closer towards the creation of a new acute-care centre," said Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid. "The BC Children's and BC Women's redevelopment project is an important priority for our government to ensure families throughout B.C. will continue to have access to the very best in specialized patient care and services."
Constructed on-time and on-budget, the two-storey, 2,346-square-metre building houses a number of clinical programs and services. These programs include psychology, social work, youth health and the Centre for Healthy Weights - Shapedown BC, along with Telehealth, a service of the Provincial Health Services Authority. It is also home to administrative offices for several BC Children's and related research areas and some UBC Faculty of Medicine seminar rooms.
Many of these programs and services were relocated from existing buildings to make way for the new, acute-care centre.
"Over the next few years, this site will be transformed with construction of the new, acute-care centre and extensive renovations to existing buildings - all designed to improve patient care," said PHSA board chair Wynne Powell. "This key investment by the B.C. government - and the commitment of the BC Children's Hospital Foundation to raise funds in support of the project - will serve British Columbians for decades to come."
The $14-million wood-first building was built to LEED Gold standards. It is linked directly to the adjoining Child & Family Research Institute and is part of the $83.2-million phase 1 of the redevelopment project. The three-phase redevelopment project, an initiative of the Provincial Health Services Authority, represents an investment of up to $700 million. The BC Children's Hospital Foundation has pledged $150 million, with the remaining project costs being funded by the B.C. government.
The second phase of the project will see the development of a new state-of-the-art, acute-care centre that will house patient-care services from both BC Children's Hospital and BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre.
Media Contacts:
Ryan Jabs
Media relations manager
Ministry of Health
250 952-1887 (media line)
Patrick Blennerhassett
Communications officer
Provincial Health Services Authority
Patrick.Blennerhassett@phsa.ca
604 675-7416
604 871-5699 (media pager)
(flickr.com) BC Children's and BC Women's Hospitals
- There are more than 196,000 patient visits to BC Children's Hospital, including 8,700 child surgeries and 43,100 emergency-department visits, annually.
- Approximately 7,000 babies are born at BC Women's Hospital every year, making it one of the busiest maternity centres in Canada.
- The three-phase, multi-year BC Children's and BC Women's redevelopment project to build a new, acute-care centre and renovate existing facilities at the site is designed to ensure that these provincial tertiary hospitals will continue to meet increasing demands for care and serve the specialized needs of British Columbia's children, women and families.
- Phase 1 includes additional neonatal ICU beds, site preparations for the new, acute-care centre and additional space for UBC's Faculty of Medicine MD program. The second and third phases include the new construction and renovations to the existing hospital buildings.
- The B.C. government, together with project partners the Provincial Health Services Authority and the BC Children's Hospital Foundation, continue to show strong commitment to patient care in B.C. by supporting this project.
- The BC Children's Hospital Foundation has pledged to raise $200 million through the Campaign for BC Children - $150 million to the new, acute-care centre and $50 million to Child Health BC, a BC Children's program to expand the hospital's expertise in treating children and youth throughout the province in collaboration with regional health authorities.
Learn More:
Information about the BC Children's and BC Women's Redevelopment Project is available at www.newcw.ca.
Media Contacts:Ryan Jabs
Media relations manager
Ministry of Health|
250 952-1887 (media line)
Patrick Blennerhassett
Communications officer
Provincial Health Services Authority
Patrick.Blennerhassett@phsa.ca
604 675-7416
604 871-5699 (media pager)
