Burnaby Hospital is a community serving a community. Our family of nurses, doctors and health care professionals take great pride in their spirit of innovation and dedicated service to patients. But they are severely challenged in their ability to provide 21st century care in a hospital that was built in 1952 and has not been expanded since 1978.

Now the third largest city in B.C., the population of Burnaby alone has increased by 75 per cent since the late 1970s. What was once a small hospital now serves 500,000 people, the majority coming from the surrounding communities of Burnaby and East Vancouver.

While the need for care continues to climb, along with our growing and aging population, our hospital has reached its capacity. The limited, older physical space poses many challenges that make it difficult to provide a modern environment that supports the need to serve more people, foster innovation and provide best practices in patient-centred care.

These challenges include: the lack of space to expand much-needed services, such as emergency and surgery; treatment areas that are too small for modern standards; specialized patient care services that are divided between different buildings; nursing units where most patients share rooms and bathrooms; a lack of dedicated waiting areas for patients and families; and a shortage of parking.

The physical transformation will have an immediate impact on patients and families and provide our innovative care teams with the space and tools to do their best work.

A new six-floor patient-care tower will be modern, energy efficient and full of natural light. The new build will add 24 inpatient beds for medical patients and create state-of-the art space for all of the hospital’s maternity and newborn services. The tower will make it possible to create a unit designed for adults with mental health and substance use concerns.

The majority of new patient care rooms will be single rooms with a dedicated bathroom, providing patients and families with comfort and privacy as well as meeting modern standards for infection control.

At the same time, the existing Support Facilities Building will be expanded and extensively renovated to accommodate more patients and improve patient flow, including significant changes to the Emergency Department and operating room suite.

Phase One will also add more parking, making access easier for patients and visitors.