Richmond Hospital to get new tower with $860M funding

RICHMOND (NEWS 1130) – Richmond Hospital is getting a new tower, courtesy of funding from the provincial government.

Premier John Horgan says B.C. has secured $860 million to build the hospital addition, which has been on Richmond’s wishlist for years.

Once built, the nine-storey tower will include a new emergency room, intensive care unit, and imaging department. It will also add 113 new beds to the hospital, bringing the total number to 353.

“One-hundred-and-thirteen new beds, twice as many spaces for pre- and post-surgical care, more emergency room space, a 100 per cent carbon-neutral facility, and as we come through one of the most difficult early summers in my recent memory, I think it’s absolutely critical and imperative that we acknowledge that climate change is not just passing by, it’s here with us, and we need to make sure as we build our communities for the future, we’re doing it with climate change in mind,” Horgan said.

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The new tower is expected to create “thousands of new jobs in construction,” the premier adds, noting the finished tower will also bolster care for the people in the region.

Health Minister Adrian Dix also acknowledged the need for upgrades at Richmond Hospital, saying “it’s long overdue for people in this fast-growing community.”

“We need great health care facilities for communities and patients first, but for great health care workers and great health care professionals like we have in Richmond,” Dix said Tuesday.

Highlighting the strain the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing overdose crisis have put on the system, Dix applauded the work being done by health care workers.

“The last month and the next month, I believe, will be the biggest, most challenging, largest in terms of demand, in the history of the health care system. Our health care workers, our health care professionals deserve our gratitude at 7 o’clock in the evening, at 7 o’clock in the morning, at noon, at midnight, and at four in the morning. They have been extraordinary, and here Richmond, in acute care, they deserve a hospital built for the 21st century,” Dix added.