On next Tuesday, July 26th, at the City of Vancouver Council meeting, Councillor Geoff Meggs will move the following motion:

MOTION ON NOTICE
1. Support for New Investments in Health Care
MOVER: Councillor Geoff Meggs
SECONDER: Councillor Tim Stevenson
WHEREAS
1. Vancouver hosts a wide range of medical and health facilities of
regional, provincial and national significance, including all the facilities
of Vancouver Coastal Health, Providence Health Care, Vancouver
Women’s and Children’s Hospital, the BC Cancer Agency and the BC
Centre for Disease Control;
2. These institutions not only provide critical health services to some of
the most vulnerable and marginalized patient populations in BC, but
also form a central element in the city’s economy, employing tens of
thousands in advanced medical research and development;
3. Co-ordination and collaboration between these institutions and the City
of Vancouver, on issues like transportation, housing, district energy
systems and waste management can produce gains both in the delivery
of health care and the economic and social life of the city;
4. Renewal of existing facilities like Providence’s St. Paul’s Hospital is
urgently required to ensure continued delivery of quality care.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT Council direct staff to explore the potential
of partnership agreements between the City and key health institutions to
maximize benefits for both sides;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the City of Vancouver urge the Provincial
Government to confirm the St. Paul’s Hospital redevelopment project,
including an urgent care centre, as a priority on the capital projects priority
list for Vancouver.
* * * * *
B.1

Now, along with the BIA in the West End, our MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert, Providence Health Care, The St. Paul’s Foundation, Vancouver Coastal Health, The Save St. Paul’s Coalition and residents of the downtown peninsula, the City of Vancouver joins the consensus that it time for St. Paul’s Hospital to be redevelop on its Burrard St. site.

One can sign up to speak to motion by contacting the City Clerk and requesting to speak:

For information please call Laura Kazakoff, Meeting Coordinator, at 604.871.6353, e mail laura.kazakoff@vancouver.ca or

Today on CKNW the Minister of Health Services stated that he is supportive of “imaginative and innovative” solutions to funding the redevelopment of St. Paul’s Hospital. By this he meant that Providence Health Care (PHC) should do something like the Wall Centre and sell condos and doctor’s offices to pay for the redevelopment of the Hospital.

But, the City of Vancouver has jurisdiction and controls the zoning of the site and it just so happens that there is a view cone that restricts the height of the building on the site. So, ether the Minister is not reading his briefing notes or he is deliberately being provocative to distract folks from the fact that his government has been sitting on this file since 2002. Nine years of Liberal Government inaction.

When asked when the St. Paul’s Hospital will receive funding the Minster over estimates the cost of the redevelopment on its current site. The estimates for building a new hospital on False Creek Flats site is in excess of $1 billion. PHC estimates the cost on the Burrard St. site to be $600 million. Is it prudent to build a new hospital for twice the cost?

So when the Minister says he is looking for “creative solutions” what he really means is he is looking for neat ideas that make him sound smart, while really doing nothing. Maybe we should proposed a new convention centre or retractable roof for the hospital and maybe he could get his head around funding the project.

Here is the full transcript of the interview. Check out Spencer Chandra Herbert’s reaction to the Minister’s comments at the end.

Here is a little taste of Spencer’s comments: “De Jong is waffling”

De Jong considers creative options for St Paul’s

Today from CKNW

Bill Good: We just heard from Dr Eric Grafstein, the head of the emergency department at St Paul’s Hospital, and on a night like last Wednesday night the importance of a downtown hospital becomes very apparent. Now, whether that hospital be right on Burrard Street or somewhere on the other end of the Georgia viaduct may be open for debate, but the fact that we need a state-of-the-art hospital in the downtown core is not.
Mike de Jong is the Health minister and joins me now.

Good morning. Will this be decided on your watch? Will you make the final determination whether or not St Paul’s is totally renovated in its present position or whether or not we get a new hospital somewhere near downtown?

Mike de Jong: Well, the work is ongoing, Bill. And can I just say for a moment, because I know you had the doctor on, and I know you have done this on your show previously, the commitment shown by the people at St Paul’s, the folks that came in, nurses, doctors and others…. It really is a tribute to their professionalism, and I just want to say thank you, as well, for what they did.
Yeah, I’m hopeful that we can move forward with this and, working with Providence Health and all of the players, come to some agreement on how this is going to proceed.

Good: But it seems to be taking forever.

de Jong: Well, it’s a big chunk of money, Bill. We’re talking about hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. It’s also a big question that you alluded to around actual location. I agree with your proposition, the argument in favour of a downtown presence, and I think there are some compelling reasons to look at the existing site, but I am also hopeful that we can be imaginative and innovative about how we maximize the value of that site. By that, I mean you look across the street. There’s a 30-storey building, tower, there. There’s no reason, in my mind, why patient towers have to be ten storeys only. Maybe there’s a way to ease some of the burden that taxpayers are facing by taking some of that residual value on the site and channelling it into the renewal process.

Good: Would it not also be feasible to have the existing site maintained as a state-of-the-art emergency centre, which the doctor just said has been recently renovated and restored, and put the rest of the hospital in another location, completely rebuilt or built from scratch, to be serviceable for the next 50 to 100 years?

de Jong: That’s precisely what the concept plan that’s being finalized is looking at, Bill. I think all of that is potentially feasible. There will, any time you are redeveloping a specific site, be a certain amount of dislocation associated with reconstruction. I think all of that is possible. The point I think I am also making is when you’re talking about a redevelopment plan that will cost between $0.5b and $1b, I am hopeful that we can be innovative. The public, as are we, are always anxious to ensure…always anxious to build, but we’ve also got to be responsible about coming up with ways to pay for it, because the taxpayers have a limited ability, especially when we have been constructing $7b worth of new health infrastructure over the past eight or nine years.

Good: It may seem overly simplistic, but the first thing that came to mind when you said it’s going to cost hundreds of millions of dollar was, well, we found hundreds of millions of dollars for a trade and convention centre. We found hundreds of millions of dollars to renovate BC Place stadium. Surely, a new hospital should have at least equal priority.

de Jong: Well, and not just St Paul’s, Bill. You’ve done stories about the challenges at Royal Columbian.
Good: Surrey.
de Jong: The Comox Valley, North Island; Royal Inland in Kamloops. The challenges facing some of our health care infrastructure exists right around the province. But I do agree with the proposition that there are ways, especially when you’re talking about a strategic downtown location, to generate some of the revenues needed to offset the costs of a major project like this.

Good: Give me an example of what you mean.
de Jong: Is there any reason, Bill, why a patient tower or a site like this couldn’t include commercial space for medical professionals who are paying rent, who are purchasing access to the site? Is there any reason, just to think outside the box, why a site like this couldn’t include a residential component? I mean, we’re talking about a key downtown location surrounded by buildings that are 20 storeys or more high. That air space has value. Maybe we can use it to offset some of these very significant costs.
Good: Mr de Jong, thank you.
de Jong: Bill, thanks for this.

Today on CKNW

Chandra Herbert: De Jong is waffling

Bill Good: Spencer Chandra Herbert is on the line. He is the MLA for the area, the New Democrat MLA. He has come on the line and wants to comment.
Spencer Chandra Herbert: Good morning, Bill.
Good: Good morning.

Chandra Herbert: I’ve just got to say thank you so much for your commitment to the hospital. But I am surprised at the minister’s basic waffling. You know, we know that Providence Health Care, Coastal Health, business improvement associations, they all want this hospital in the downtown core. They’ve said that the Station Street site which they had proposed is not on. So for the minister to say, well, maybe it could still move or something else shows either he hasn’t done his homework or is just trying to muddy the waters so we don’t go forward on this. And then the suggestion that, oh, well, $600m…. It is a lot of money, but the Liberals’ proposal had been a $1.2b hospital outside of downtown. So Providence has brought forward a much more prudent proposal here.
It needs to be done. The government has known it needs to be done since 2004. It’s at extreme or high risk of failure should there be any sort of disaster, and they’ve known that since then. So I don’t know how prioritizing a $600m BC Place roof when we’ve known our hospital needs to be done and is in much worse shape is good planning.
cknw

Tomorrow is the last day for the West End Mayor’s Advisory Committee’s (WEMAC) survey on priorities in the West End.
Please take 10 mins and fill out the survey and let the city know how important St. Paul’s Hospital is to the West End.

Here is the link to the survey:WEMAC Survery

Thanks for help and support,

brent granby
Vice-Chair Save St. Paul’s Coalition

Spencer Chandra Herbert, MLA for Vancouver- West End, asked the Minister of Health Services, The Honourable Mike de Jong, if he would confirmed that St. Paul’s Hospital would stay on its current site? The Minister did confirm that it is indeed the plan. Mr. Herbert then went on to asked the Minister if the funding for business case for the redevelopment had been allocated for the project and the Minister stated that :

“I’m not able to offer the direct assurance that …, because within a finite budget there are finite planning dollars and, quite frankly, establishing a priority as between St. Paul’s, Royal Columbia and Royal Inland is not something that has been done….”

Meaning “NO”, the funding has not been allocated to fund Providence Health Care to start developing a business case to redevelop the hospital. The long and short: St. Paul’s Hospital will stay were it is, but no money is being put in the budget at this time, for the redevelopment of a hospital that serves over 90k residents of the downtown peninsula, half of them in a Liberal riding of the Hon. Mary McNeil.

Here is the full transcript of the exchange between the Minister and Mr. Herbert. (more…)

A third BC NDP leadership candidate has responded to the Coalition’s February 21, 2011 letter requesting a statement on the renewal of St. Paul’s Hospital. Yesterday by email through the Save St. Paul’s website the Coalition received the following message from Mike Farnworth, MLA Port Coquitlam,Mr. Farnworth’s campaign site

Mike Farnworth

March 15, 2011

Aaron Jasper, Chair
Brent Granby, Vice-Chair
Save St. Paul’s Hospital Coalition

Dear Mr. Jasper and Mr. Granby,

Thank you for your ongoing efforts on behalf of St. Paul’s hospital. As requested, I am writing to share my views regarding the future of St. Paul’s and to answer two specific questions.

First, the Coalition asked: “Will you continue the government’s current position of support for renewing St. Paul’s Hospital at its present location?”

Yes, my view is that St.Paul’s Hospital should remain – and be renewed – at its present location on Burrard Street. Furthermore, I share the Coalition’s view that consultation is an important part of a renewal process.

Second, the Coalition asked: “Will you take action to ensure the renewal of St. Paul’s Hospital as laid out in Providence Health Care’s concept plan is completed by 2020?”

I appreciate that a renewal plan must be implemented as soon as possible and I will work with ProvidenceHealth Care to make this happen.

As you well know, St. Paul’s Hospital requires substantial renovations and repairs for everything from outdated electrical wiring and elevators to seismic upgrades. ProvidenceHealth Care has developed a plan that will address these challenges and also contains exciting and much-needed additions, such as a new ambulatory care center.

St. Paul’s continues to provide a remarkable range of clinical specialities and a consistently high standard of care to patients. With 64 000 emergency visits per year and 230 000 outpatient visits per year, it is a fundamentally important part of the health care system in the region and the province.

It would be my privilege to work with the Coalition, ProvidenceHealth Care and other interested parties to ensure not only that St. Paul’s can continue its excellent tradition, but that it is able to improve and develop new capacity for the future.

Sincerely,

Mike

Mike Farnworth

A second BC NDP leadership candidate has responded to the Coalition’s February 21, 2011 letter requesting a statement on the renewal of St. Paul’s Hospital. Yesterday by email the Coalition received the following letter by email from John Horgan, MLA Juan de Fuca.Mr. Horgan’s Campaign website Below is a digital copy of the letter.
(more…)

The Save St. Paul’s Coalition sent letters to all candidates for the leadership of both the BC Liberal Party and BC NDP requesting a statement on their respective plans for the renewal of St. Paul’s Hospital. Kevin Falcon’s Campaign acknowledged that they received the Coalitions letter, but did not state a position. Finally the Coalition has received a response from one of the candidates from the leadership selection process from the BC NDP, Adrian Dix, MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway. Mr. Dix’s campaign website

In a letter dated February 21, 2011 the Coalition asked Mr. Dix the following questions:

Coalition Question: Will you continue the government’s current position of support for renewing St. Paul’s Hospital at its present location?

Mr. Dix’s response: “Yes. I have publicly advocated for upgrading St. Paul’s to maintain it as a Centre of Excellence for years. In my capacity as then NDP health critic, I made the renewal of St Paul’s Hospital part of our 2009 election platform.

Coalition Question: Will you take action to ensure the renewal of St. Paul’s Hospital as laid out in Providence Health Care’s concept plan is completed by 2020?”

Mr. Dix’s response: “Yes”

The Coalition requested a statement of position on the renewal of St. Paul’s hospital.

Mr. Dix’s response: “ I have worked on behalf of St Paul’s Hospital advocating that the BC Liberal government end its indifference toward the institution and recommit to renewing the campus.

For example in 2009 I challenged the BC Liberals to commit to renewing St Paul’s after I raised that Metro Vancouver health authorities were discussing plans that would effectively downgrade St. Paul’s into a community hospital. I have voiced opposition to the P3 project proposed for the False Creek Flats. And most recently, I have called for the creation of an Urgent Response Centre at the hospital.

I have been motivated to save and renew St. Paul’s because the province cannot afford to lose this institution: it is an anchor of the BC health care system.

The hospital’s internationally recognized programs in cardiac and renal care help patients from across the province (as well from across the country). The institution is also known as a world class centre for research and teaching, training the next generation of clinicians and cultivating breakthroughs in fields from cardiopulmonary to AIDS/HIV and mental health. These programs and their expert clinical teams are the result of years of investment and staff collaboration. They cannot be easily rebuilt after a misguided decision to dismantle and move these programs to a different facility.

Further, Metro Vancouver is also facing a shortage of acute care beds. Losing the wards at St Paul’s will exacerbate waiting lists, wait times and emergency room congestion.”

Thanks to Mr. Dix for taking the time to respond to the Coalition’s request for a statement on his plan for the renewal of St. Paul’s Hospital.

What do you think of Mr. Dix’s response? Please write a comment so the Coalition can have your feedback as part of our evaluation of the candidates.

OWN YOUR HEALTH
ST. PAUL’S HOSPITAL COMMUNITY FORUMS

Join medical experts from Providence Health Care for monthly community forums at St. Paul’s Hospital. Each month features a different health topic with time to pose questions to the experts. The forums are free and open to the public and staff. For more information and to register, please email ownyourhealth@providencehealth.bc.ca or call 604-806-8495. Please visit www.phcmedicine.ca for a full schedule.

Let’s Talk About: Atrial Fibrillation
The Beat Goes On

March 16 , 2011
7:00 – 9:00 pm
Lecture Theatre Level 1, Providence Bldg.

Presented by:

Dr. Shanta Chakrabarti
Clinical Instructor, Department of Medicine
Division of Cardiology
Providence Health Care
University of British Columbia

and

Ms. Serena Kutcher RN BSN
Patient Educator, Atrial Fibrillation Clinic
St. Paul’s Hospital

Intended for patients (and their family members), who have been affected by atrial fibrillation, those who are at risk and those who just want to know more about this condition. The presentations will focus on treatment, and how to help patients feel better and live more functional and healthier lives. The presentations will also highlight the latest in treatment and the ongoing research at St. Paul’s Hospital.

This week Donald Luxton, president of Heritage Vancouver Society in a article by Mathew Burrows in the Straight was quoted as saying: “ it’s an “opportune” time for “substantial investment in the buildings” at St. Paul’s Hospital.”

For the full Straight ariticle:Matt Burrows

If one thinks of how the earthquakes of this week have reek such destruction, loss of life and injury in New Zealand, its hard not see how it is imperative that St. Paul’s Hospital be renewed as quickly as possible.

One of the struggles of the Save St. Paul’s Coalition has been to demonstrate that the advocacy of keeping a fully funded public hospital on the Burrard St. site is not rooted in self-interest. There are a number of strong reasons why renewing on the downtown site on Burrard Street is most appropriate, possible and prudent. One of the compelling notions is the historical legacy of the buildings and social legacy of the hospital being on its current site for the last 117 years.

The Sisters of Providence open St. Paul’s back in 1894 as part of their mission to serve the poor and needy of Vancouver. If an institution as important as a hospital is on a site for 117 years there has to be very compelling reasons why it should be in that location. Over a 100 k folks live and work within walking distance of St. Paul’s hospital and depend on the services that it provides.

The hospital is ideally situated on the north side of False Creak to provide medical service to the downtown population. In the event of earthquake how the bridges would stand up is uncertain. It is of critically importance that the hospital be seismically upgraded to serve this downtown population.

While it is not well known, St. Paul’s has a sizable out of city patient population that comes to St. Paul’s for life saving procedures and treatment. The hospital being located downtown, it is easily accessible by public transit and there are many hotels for family to stay in while family and friends are receiving treatment.

There is also a whole host of medical infrastructure and businesses that have organically grown up around St. Paul’s Hospital. Pharmacies to have prescriptions filled, doctor’s offices and medical laboratories are located within a stones throw of the hospital.

The heritage value of the St. Paul’s Hospital campus has been among the strong reasons why the downtown site was the appropriate site for the renewal of the hospital. Some my argue that heritage preservation is a luxury and not an important critical factor in the debate of around the renewal of St. Paul’s Hospital. But it is hard to underestimate the importance of preserving the older buildings of this relatively young city to the rich fabric of Vancouver’s future.

Heritage Vancouver is very vocal advocate for the renewal of St. Paul’s Hospital on the Burrard St. site. St. Paul’s has been on the Heritage Vancouver’s top 10 most endangered buildings for some time.