Today marks 100 days until the opening of the new Interior Heart and Surgical Centre, highlighted with the unveiling of a countdown clock at Kelowna General Hospital. 

“The countdown is on toward opening the new Interior Heart and Surgical Centre,” said Premier Christy Clark, MLA for Westside-Kelowna. “In just 100 days, the first patient will undergo surgery here, receiving great care much closer to friends, family - and home.”

The centre is scheduled to open for patients on Monday, Sept. 28, 2015. The Province provided $296 million to the overall project and $85 million was contributed by the Central Okanagan Regional Hospital District for a total of $381 million.

“Today, we are heading down the home stretch of seven years of construction at Kelowna General Hospital,” said Kelowna-Mission MLA Steve Thomson. “I know that both patients and health professionals will welcome the Interior Heart and Surgical Centre when it opens in September. This centre will help save lives in the Southern Interior.”

In addition to cardiac surgery - the first such program outside of Victoria and the Lower Mainland - the centre will include new pre-operative, day surgery and post-anaesthetic recovery bays and a cardiac surgery intensive care unit.

“This facility is the icing on the cake that is KGH,” said Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick. “It has capacity for 15 operating rooms, including two dedicated for cardiac surgery where patient-centred care will be delivered closer to home.”

The centre adds 14,120 square metres (152,000 square feet) of modern patient care space to Kelowna General Hospital. It provides for easy drop-off and pick-up from Pandosy Street with a modern design optimizing natural light. There were 11,700 cubic metres (15,303 cubic yards) of concrete poured during construction, approximately 1,530 truckloads.

“Kelowna General Hospital has been a cornerstone of our healthy community for 107 years,” said Central Okanagan Regional Hospital District chair Gail Given. “From day one of the KGH expansion, the Regional Hospital District has proudly provided financial support on behalf of all Central Okanagan residents.”

The new surgical centre was designed and constructed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification.

“Interior Health is committed to environmental sustainability and green buildings,” said Interior Health board chair Erwin Malzer. “By creating a healthy and healing environment for patients and health-care professionals, we are fulfilling our vision to set new standards of excellence in the delivery of health services in B.C.”   

The fourth floor, which will be home to a new maternity unit, is expected to open in spring 2016.

The Ministry of Health has developed “Setting Priorities for the B.C. Health System,” an overarching strategy to create a more sustainable health system. As part of this, a series of policy papers, including one on surgical services, was created, built on understanding patient surgical health-care needs and developing quality, sustainable and innovative delivery models to improve care.

Learn more:

For more information on the Interior Heart and Surgical Centre, visit www.interiorhealth.ca

To read the Ministry of Health’s strategic document, Setting Priorities for the BC Health System and the accompanying policy papers, please visit: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/topic.page?id=EF73BCF3DE34484CB4DBA9E34092402C

A backgrounder follows.

Media Contacts:

Media Relations Manager
Ministry of Health
250 952-1887 (media line)

Lisa Braman
Capital Projects Communications Officer
Interior Health
250 870-4791
250 801-1741 (cell)

BACKGROUNDER

Interior Heart and Surgical Centre details

Level 1:

• 42 private pre-op and day surgery recovery bays
• Family rooms
• Meeting spaces for clinical teams
• Staff rest area with access to outdoor space

Level 2:

• 22 post-anaesthetic recovery room bays
• Capacity for 15 operating rooms, including two dedicated for cardiac surgery
• One hybrid operating room, scheduled to open in fall 2015. This highly specialized operating room is equipped with advanced medical imaging devices, enabling minimally invasive surgery, which is less traumatic for the patient
• Average operating room size is 60 square metres (646 square feet), allowing for easy movement by health professionals
• Eight cardiac surgery intensive care unit private rooms
• Family room

Level 3:

• Medical device reprocessing (MDR) department for decontamination, inspection, performance of necessary maintenance, assembly, disinfection/sterilization, and storage
• More than four times larger than the old MDR with natural light throughout
• Staff rest areas with access to outdoor covered patio

Level 4 (opening spring 2016):

• New maternity unit
• Neonatal intensive care unit including private and semi-private spaces
• Five labour and delivery rooms
• 17 inpatient beds (combination of private and semi-private rooms)
• Two operating room assessment and recovery beds
• Three early labour assessment beds
• Caesarean section operating room
• All spaces will be equipped with the latest technology including central monitoring

Media Contacts:

Media Relations Manager
Ministry of Health
250 952-1887 (media line)

Lisa Braman
Capital Projects Communications Officer
Interior Health
250 870-4791
250 801-1741 (cell)