There are no backhoes, cranes or construction fences to be seen yet at Richmond Hospital, but Richmond-Steveston MLA Kelly Greene said there’s work going on indoors in preparation for an almost complete rebuild of the facility.
During the 2020 provincial election, Greene said there would be shovels in the ground in 2021 to rebuild the hospital, however, with a “slight delay” because of the pandemic, the project started last fall with indoor preparations to ensure “continuity of services.”
“While you might not be seeing a backhoe, there is work going (on) to make the project happen,” Greene told the Richmond News.
A recent letter to the editor, by a Richmond resident, described the current tower as “crumbling.”
And Richmond Centre BC Liberal MLA Teresa Wat said she hopes the hospital project doesn’t get pushed further into the future.
Wat said she initially gave the government some “latitude” on extending the timeline of the project because the plans were expanded to add more elements.
But after several announcements – which she calls “recycled announcements” – it seems like the timeline keeps moving forward.
“I hope this is the final, final date,” she told the News, given that the hospital “so old and on the verge of collapse and at capacity.”
Wat said she has received no updates on the construction project.
But, she noted, while the hospital seems to be behind, the provincial government announced a new Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria with a price tag of $800 million.
'Continuity of services' needed during construction
Right now, planning is underway to move services around the hospital so that there will be “continuity of services” during construction.
The psychiatric emergency unit will be moved to the South Tower in summer 2023 and the Cancer Care Clinic will be moved to the ground floor of the Milan Ilich Pavilion in fall 2023, according to Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH).
Furthermore, several programs that are currently in the Rotunda and the North Tower will be relocated in fall 2023.
From fall 2023 to fall 2024, the Park Centre and the Rotunda will be demolished and the site will be preloaded for construction of the nine-floor acute care tower, the Yurkovich Family Pavilion, VCH explained.
While a new hospital has been planned for years, the BC NDP government, when elected in 2017, expanded the scope of the project.
“We took a look and said we have to do a bigger, better hospital because of the needs we have in Richmond,” Greene said. “And I think that was really worthwhile - stop and pause and do the right project.”
The new tower will have 216 beds and is expected to be completed by 2028.
The new tower will include an 82-bed emergency room, up from the current 60 beds, and 11 operating rooms, while currently there are eight. Pre- and post-surgical care spaces will increase from 26 to 69.
In total, when rebuilt, the hospital will have 353 beds, 113 more than it currently has.
Greene said the project will “replace most of the hospital.”
