Major facility upgrades at Burnaby Hospital and two new patient-care towers will give people in this growing community faster access to better health care. 

“Every person in B.C. deserves quality public health care, and our government is working hard to upgrade, expand and modernize health-care facilities and hospitals in Burnaby and around the province,” said Premier John Horgan. “Burnaby is growing rapidly, and the hospital needs to be upgraded and modernized to keep up. This significant investment will help deliver the health care people in Burnaby need in world-class facilities.”

The redevelopment, which at more than $1.3 billion will be among the province’s largest-ever health care investments, will impact every part of the existing hospital campus. It will add two new patient-care towers with new wards and operating rooms, a total of almost 400 beds (the majority in single rooms), a bigger emergency department and a new cancer treatment centre. The last big upgrades at Burnaby Hospital happened more than 40 years ago.

“People in the community have a close connection to Burnaby Hospital, as do I, and I’m proud our government is following through on its commitment to redevelop the facility with a visionary plan to meet the public health-care needs of residents,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “After years of inaction, it’s a big day for people in Burnaby as they will be able to access care in a state-of-the-art hospital for decades to come.” 

The Burnaby Hospital redevelopment is part of work underway to provide better health care throughout across British Columbia. In the last two years, the Province has announced almost $4 billion in capital investments for 11 hospitals, with more to come.

In November 2017, government directed Fraser Health to begin planning a complete redevelopment for the hospital – a significantly more substantive commitment than the conceptual renewal plan for the hospital announced in April 2017.

The redevelopment begins with a new six-storey, 11,858 square-metre, 78-bed, patient-care tower. The tower will include an upgraded mental health and substance use inpatient unit, and a new maternity ward to offer enhanced care for new parents and their families. The tower is expected to open in 2023, with construction starting in 2021.

The redevelopment will also upgrade the support facilities building on campus, creating a larger emergency department, increasing the number of treatment bays from 47 to 62, and adding a new medical device reprocessing unit. It will also add four new operating rooms, bringing the total to nine; as well as 18 new pre-operative and post-operative recovery spaces. These upgrades are expected to be complete by 2024.

The second patient-care tower will have 160 new beds and a state-of-the-art cancer treatment centre. It is expected to open in 2027. Detailed business planning for the tower is underway, with construction expected to begin in 2024.

This investment builds on the government’s work toward enhancing health-care services for people in Burnaby and around the province, including:

• performing thousands more MRI tests throughout the province each year through the Surgical and Diagnostic Imaging Strategy;
• increasing access to team-based health care with the launch of three local primary care networks and the opening of the new Burnaby Urgent and Primary Care Centre; and
• better access to joint replacement surgery, through the Fraser Health hip and knee replacement program, which is increasing the number of hip and knee replacement surgeries in the region.

Quotes:

Mike Hurley, mayor, City of Burnaby –

“The investment in a new Burnaby general hospital is good for our community. This massive and much-needed redevelopment will help ensure Burnaby families get faster access to the quality health care they need."

Anne Kang, MLA for Burnaby-Deer Lake –

“It’s exciting to see official action being taken for redevelopment of Burnaby Hospital, which has been a long time coming. This hospital means a lot to people in the community and the work that is about to begin will mean even better levels of care for decades to come in modern surroundings.”

Katrina Chen, MLA for Burnaby-Lougheed –

“Hospitals are important parts of the community, and this is especially true in Burnaby where the facility has been serving people for decades. I’m excited that our government is taking the critical step of making big improvements and upgrades at Burnaby Hospital so people will continue to be proud of this health-care facility.”

Raj Chouhan, MLA for Burnaby-Edmonds –

“I hear from many people in this community about the need for improvements at Burnaby Hospital and am proud that our government is following through on its commitment to upgrade the facility, which is an investment in public health care for everyone in this region.”   

Janet Routledge, MLA for Burnaby North –

“This is a great day and I know that people in Burnaby will be excited to see that construction work will be starting at Burnaby Hospital which will mean people can have improved access to the health-care services they rely on.”

Dr. Victoria Lee, president and CEO, Fraser Health –

“This project is an investment that will benefit patients, clients, staff and the community over the years to come. This development will touch every part of the existing hospital, to improve care and infection control, increase access to specialty services and incorporate capacity for the future.”

Kristy James, chief executive officer, Burnaby Hospital Foundation –

“The foundation team, led by our board of trustees, is very pleased to join the Premier, Minister of Health and Fraser Health in redeveloping Burnaby Hospital and enhancing the services provided to patients in our vibrant and diverse communities of Burnaby and the surrounding area. We’re grateful to our donors for their ongoing support of health care close to home, and we look forward to working closely with all of our partners in seeing this project through.”

Quick Facts:

• The 297-bed Burnaby Hospital opened in 1952 and provides acute and emergency care, as well as general and internal medicine, general surgery, neonatal intensive care, palliative care and an adult mental health and substance use in-patient unit.
• Burnaby is the province’s third-largest city, and the number of patients requiring hospital care there is expected to increase almost 60% by 2036.
• Concept planning outlines a high-level vision, providing a preliminary cost estimate, and a framework for projected health services and infrastructure.
• A business plan confirms scope, cost estimate, procurement and timeline.
• All new hospitals in B.C. are planned to a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold standard.

A backgrounder follows.