Premier Christy Clark officially opened the new Centennial Building and Dr. Walter Anderson Building at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) that will provide modern care for thousands more patients and families from the Interior for years to come.

The $218-million Centennial Building was funded through the Kelowna and Vernon Hospitals Projects (approximately $435 million). The $39-million Anderson Building was funded through the Interior Heart and Surgical Centre Project (approximately $448 million). Since 2002, the provincial government and partners have invested nearly $1 billion in capital projects in Interior Health.

"The Centennial Building, with its new operating suites, vastly expanded emergency department and new ambulatory care department, will directly and immediately benefit patients and their families," said Premier Clark. "Our government is committed to providing B.C. families the most up to date facilities and patient-focused health care. These new buildings will serve Kelowna residents for years to come."

The new Centennial Building was completed on budget and ahead of schedule, and will add a total of 33,445 square metres (360,000 square feet) to the KGH site. It will consolidate and modernize programs and services to improve health service delivery.

"The Kelowna and Vernon Hospitals Project represents an unprecedented level of development to health care in the Interior - both in terms of patient care and jobs created," said Health Minister Michael de Jong. "Through the KVH project alone, we were able to generate approximately 2,700 directly related construction jobs, and created infrastructure that will serve British Columbians well into the future."

"The Centennial Building has been designed to allow for a major increase in capacity over the next 12 years - in fact, by 2024-25, KGH will have more than double the surgical capacity it now does," said Ben Stewart, MLA for Westside-Kelowna.

"This expansion not only increases patient capacity, but as a teaching hospital it is also playing a key role in helping us train our future doctors, with the UBC Southern Medical Program," said Norm Letnick, MLA for Kelowna-Lake Country.

The Dr. Walter Anderson Building is linked to the Centennial Building by an enclosed pedestrian bridge, and will be home to laboratory and clinical support departments, and will allow for the relocation of existing hospital departments for construction to start on the IHSC building.

"Here in Kelowna, we have an active, strong senior community. The Centennial and Anderson buildings are designed to cater to the unique needs of seniors, who frequent the hospital both as patients and as visitors," said Steve Thomson, MLA for Kelowna-Mission.

The IHSC project will create a permanent home for the fifth provincial cardiac surgery program in B.C. - and the first one outside of Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island. Once complete, the cardiac services program will provide about 1,600 cardiac patients each year with cardiac care closer to home.

"Our patients and staff have been very understanding throughout the construction process, and I would like to thank all of our staff for the exceptional patient care they have provided in sometimes challenging circumstances," said Interior Health board chair Norman Embree. "These new buildings will also provide a superior working environment for all those dedicated staff, physicians and volunteers."

"Clinicians who work here at KGH have been able to have an extensive consultation role in the design of these new buildings, and I know that we are looking forward to getting to work in these new, state-of-the-art spaces," said Natalie Walden, nurse and team leader for vascular surgery at KGH.

The KGH piece of the Kelowna and Vernon Hospitals Project includes the Centennial Building and UBC faculty of medicine and Interior Health Clinical Academic Campus and parkade buildings, which together represent an investment of $255 million by the Province and Interior Health ($150.1 million), the Central Okanagan Regional Hospital District ($99.3 million) and the Kelowna General Hospital Foundation ($5.6 million).

"Today marks a significant milestone in patient care for our region," said Robert Hobson, chair of the Central Okanagan Regional Hospital District, whose total investment in the IHSC project and the KVHP combined exceeds $190 million. "Our residents have supported these projects from the beginning, and to see that investment come to fruition like this is very exciting."

To learn more about the Kelowna and Vernon Hospitals Project and the Interior Heart and Surgical Centre Project, visit: www.buildingpatientcare.ca

A backgrounder follows.

Media contacts:

Shane Mills
Office of the Premier
250 661-1015

Ryan Jabs
Media Relations Manager
Ministry of Health
250 952-1887 (media line) Cam McAlpine

Communications Officer
Interior Health
250 801-1741

BACKGROUNDER

May 25, 2012 Office of the Premier

Ministry of Health

Interior Health Central Okanagan Regional Hospital District

Centennial Building and Dr. Walter Anderson Building

Features of the new Centennial Building include:

• New, larger operating rooms, 60 per cent larger than existing ones.
• Emergency department four times the size of the current one, allowing staff the space to work in a more patient-friendly environment.
• New and expanded streaming area in ER with full waiting room monitoring capability.
• Elevator from the emergency department to the new heli-pad, which will shave up to half an hour off response times.
• Dedicated Clinical Decision Unit with expanded cardiac monitoring capability.
• Twenty-six private medical inpatient rooms and four semi-private rooms, all with their own bathroom and shower (currently, patients reside in four-bed rooms, with shared bathrooms and showers) as part of the Interior Heart and Surgical Centre project and the cardiac transition plan.
• A new and expanded renal department with 16 hemodialysis stations, including two isolation rooms and clinic space with private interview rooms, plus two additional stations for future growth.
• New ambulatory care department, three times larger than the current one.
• Modern infection control standards completely integrated into the buildings.
• Will allow for future expansion as population needs grow.
• Constructed to LEED Gold certification.
• Designed from a patient perspective, with particular acknowledgment to the needs of the elderly.
• Extra space and increased privacy for patients.
• Larger windows to increase the amount of natural light, which is essential in improving patient outcomes and getting patients healthier faster.

Features of the new Anderson Building include:

• 7,848 square metres (84,470 square feet) of space.
• New laboratory and clinical support departments.
• Allow construction to continue on the up to $448 million Interior Heart and Surgical Centre project.
• Direct connection to the Centennial Building, to provide seamless care.

Media contacts:

Shane Mills
Office of the Premier
250 661-1015

Ryan Jabs
Media Relations Manager
Ministry of Health
250 952-1887 (media line) Cam McAlpine

Communications Officer
Interior Health
250 801-1741