Construction begins on new St. Paul's Hospital

Construction has kicked off for the new St. Paul's Hospital at the Jim Pattison Medical Centre, which the province says is the largest hospital redevelopment project in British Columbia's history.

Health Minister Adrian Dix says it's a "great day," as the new site will be a full-service acute care hospital and integrated health-care campus with a capacity for 548 beds.

Construction begins on the new St. Paul’s Hospital. It will be home to world-class public health care and a research and teaching centre that will help transform patient care in #BC. @melaniejmark @BrendaBaileyBC @Providence_Hlth @helpstpauls @VCHVivian https://t.co/KlehPwFVFH

— Adrian Dix (@adriandix) March 8, 2021

Dix told a news conference Monday that the hospital will continue to be the home of leading provincial programs and referral centres, including heart and lung care, specialty services and transplants.

He says the hospital will also offer HIV/AIDS care, chronic disease management, emergency and critical care, mental health and addictions programs, Indigenous health services, maternity services and community outreach programs.

The hospital will continue to be a teaching site where University of British Columbia medical students and British Columbia Institute of Technology nursing students receive their training.

Dix says the new St. Paul's Hospital on Station Street in the False Creek Flats area is expected to be complete in 2027 and will replace the current site in downtown Vancouver.

The new hospital is expected to cost $2.174 billion, of which B.C. is contributing $1.327 billion. The St. Paul's Foundation plans to raise $125 million and Providence Health Care will fund the rest from the sale of the current St. Paul's property.

The province says PCL Construction will build the new hospital and the project will create 8,523 direct jobs and 5,383 indirect jobs, such as construction material manufacturing and food services.