Providence Health Care Announces New St. Paul’s Hospital Campus Plan

VANCOUVER, April 13, 2015 - Providence Health Care has announced plans for a new St. Paul’s Hospital and health care campus.  Located less than three kilometres away from the current site on Vancouver’s Burrard Street, the Station Street site will provide new, modern and state-of-the-art treatment for patients who need medical care both inside and outside of an acute care hospital.

Planning for the new hospital and integrated health care campus will include the following key components:

• A new, full-service critical care hospital
• 24/7 primary care services
• Chronic disease management services
• Mental health and addictions beds and programs
• On-site residential care beds and programs
• Ambulatory services and outpatient clinics
• Non-acute medical services
• A low-risk birthing centre
• End-of-life care
• Research and teaching
• Community Care
• Community Outreach Programs

The new hospital will continue as one of British Columbia’s two most specialized hospitals for adults.  It will also be at the centre of a network of new and existing dedicated primary care services in the region, including services to support those living in Vancouver’s West End. In addition, as part of the Station Street development, Providence will look at building a number of social housing units to provide affordable housing options for Vancouver residents.

During the redevelopment and planning process, Providence will consult with members of the community on how best to meet the primary health care needs of seniors and others in the West End.

“The new St. Paul’s and integrated health care centre will be designed in a way that puts the patient at the centre of care,” said Dianne Doyle, President and CEO, Providence Health Care.  “When people are patients, they are at one of the most vulnerable points in their life.  This redevelopment will strengthen health care to ensure a patient’s care path - from hospital to community to home - will be as seamless as possible by using St. Paul’s range of provincial and community care services.”

When patients come to the new St. Paul’s, there will be a centralized intake process that will determine the care most appropriate for each person - whether that be hospital care, primary, community care or other health care supports.  This new integrated intake approach will ensure patients are directed and receive the care they need as quickly as possible.

“St. Paul’s sees some of the most vulnerable patients in the province - the frail elderly, people with persistent and chronic health conditions and those with mental health and addictions issues,” said Dr. Dan Kalla, Emergency Department Head, St. Paul’s Hospital.  “This centralized approach to patient services requires a completely new campus of health care facilities. This level of personalized care simply couldn’t be done at the current constrained Burrard Street site.”

The plan builds on St. Paul’s current provincial role in areas such as heart, lung, kidney and HIV/AIDS care by developing new centres of excellence in addictions, mental health, aging and seniors’ care.

“Moving ahead with a new St. Paul’s will realize the vision of a single patient-centred acute, primary, ambulatory and community campus of care in one location,” said Mary Ackenhusen, President and CEO, Vancouver Coastal Health.  “It will also benefit from VCH’s growing network of integrated primary care centres that support populations such as those living with addictions and mental health, as well as seniors and others requiring care in the community.”

The redevelopment will further strengthen St. Paul’s reputation as a teaching and academic hospital in partnership with the University of British Columbia (UBC).

“UBC and the Faculty of Medicine are pleased to continue partnering with Providence Health in our pursuit of world class research, excellence in health education and excellence in patient care, leading to improved health and health care outcomes for the populations we serve,” said Dr. Gavin Stuart, Dean, Faculty of Medicine and Vice Provost Health, UBC.

St. Paul’s Hospital has served patient needs across British Columbia from its location in Vancouver’s West End for over 100 years.  Providence is committed to working with the community to develop a comprehensive primary health clinic that will deliver many of the services for seniors and others now available at St. Paul’s.

“We are proud of our history of service and excited about this new plan,” said Doyle.  “Providence looks forward to working with our clinicians, residents, Vancouver Coastal Health, the City of Vancouver and everyone interested in our new St. Paul’s plan to help design and build the best health care campus in Canada.”

Backgrounder: Benefits of Station Street site over existing St. Paul’s site

By re-developing St. Paul’s Hospital at the 18.5 acre Station Street site instead of the current Burrard Street location will allow the following programs and services to be developed that would not be possible on the existing site:

• 24/7 primary care
• Chronic Disease Management Services
• Mental Health and Addictions beds and services and programs
• Non-acute medical services
• Laboratory
• Low-risk birthing centre
• End of life care
• Residential care beds
• Social Housing
• Wellness and Community Care programs

Redeveloping St. Paul’s at Station Street will allow for the construction of a high percentage of single rooms supporting the care needs of patients, opposed to the 48 per cent single patient rooms that could be developed at Burrard Street.  Single-patient hospital rooms reduce patient risk to hospital acquired infection and allow for increased privacy for patients and their visitors. 

Re-developing at Station Street eliminates the need to spend the over $80 million in seismic upgrades that would be required to bring upgrade the Burrard Street site buildings. 

Re-developing at Station Street will allow construction be done at one time, in the most efficient manner possible, and reduce the time needed to build the new hospital campus.  If the redevelopment occurred at the Burrard Street site, it would need to be done on a piece-meal basis taking many more years to be completed and producing noise for patients and the community in the West End. 

Re-developing at 18.5 acre Station Street site will allow the campus to for future development and expand should patient needs dictate.  Re-developing at the current Burrard Street site would not allow for any future development as the site is fully subscribed.   

An Electronic Press Kit (including media backgrounders, B-Roll, etc.) can be found at:
http://www.providencehealthcare.org/about-providence/renewal-projects

Providence Health Care (PHC) is one of Canada's largest faith-based health care organizations, operating 16 health care facilities in Greater Vancouver. PHC operates one of two adult academic health science centres in the province – St. Paul’s Hospital – performs cutting-edge research in more than 30 clinical specialties, and focuses its services on six “populations of emphasis”: cardio-pulmonary risks and illnesses, HIV/AIDS, mental health, renal risks and illness, specialized needs in aging and urban health and is home to the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. www.providencehealthcare.org

For more information:

Dave Lefebvre
Senior Communications Specialist – Media Relations, PHC
dlefebvre@providencehealth.bc.ca
Tel:  604-682-2344 extension 66987