Closure of St. Paul’s Hospital raises questions of shutdown of Mount St. Joseph

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – WiIl Mount St. Joseph Hospital be closing? Some believe a new St. Paul’s raises questions about the aging hospital in East Vancouver.

Aaron Jasper, former chair of the Save St. Paul’s Hospital Coalition, is worried the new one planned for False Creek will be the closure of Mount St. Joseph Hospital on Kingsway near 12th Avenue.

“If they can justify removing possible facilities in the downtown core then why would they bother having duplicate facilities on a much smaller scale in East Vancouver.”

Roughly a decade ago, he asked if it was a possibility but never got a clear answer from the province.

“You’re going to build a mega complex on the flats and you’re going to shut down the downtown hospital, so it seems pretty likely you’ll also shut down Mount St. Joes. They really didn’t want to engage in that. From what I’ve heard they’ve given a non-response on the issue of Mount St. Joes today.”

He warns the changes to St. Paul’s will impact more than just the downtown core.

“I think people in other neighbourhoods need to take notice of this because it’s not just an issue that’s going to affect downtown residents but it’s going to affect people in other neighbourhoods of East Vancouver as well.”

Construction on the new St. Paul’s Hospital will start in 2017 with an expected completion by 2022.

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