Sunshine Coast residents offer feedback on potential St. Mary’s name change

With a month-long public consultation process on a possible name change for Sechelt’s St. Mary’s Hospital now complete, Community Engagement staff yesterday released a short summary of resident and stakeholder feedback.

“On behalf of Vancouver Coastal Health, I want to sincerely thank every individual, group and organization that took the time to share their opinion as part of this consultation process,” says Kip Woodward, VCH Board Chair. “Making a recommendation will certainly be difficult given the range of views and emotions but we will carefully review each comment before doing so.”

More than 500 responses were received, showing that approx. two per cent of the Sunshine Coast population made a comment of some sort. There was strong support both for and against a name change for the hospital and the comments were grouped into themes:

Key themes of those who support retaining the current name

• Concern about cost associated with a name change and how healthcare money is being spent
• St. Mary’s Hospital has a strong history and background in the community that should be preserved
• No reason for a name change
• Strong emotional attachment to the hospital and its current name
• Name a tower/wing instead of renaming the entire hospital

Key themes of those in favour of a name change

• We should acknowledge the Sechelt Indian Band for its generous donation
• Change name to something that reflects the whole Sunshine Coast
• An opportunity to move forward in the spirit of healing and reconciliation with our First Nations partners
• Time for a change
• There is a stigma associated with the name St. Mary’s for our First Nations community because of a residential school in the Fraser Valley
• Consider a bilingual name or combining names

If VCH decides that a name change is appropriate in light of the submissions and themes that emerged during community consultations, the health authority will make an informed recommendation to the provincial government for consideration under the naming protocol for publicly-funded buildings. The timeline for completing this process, including government review and decision-making, would be confirmed at a later date.

What’s in a name: St. Mary’s history in a nutshell

St. Mary’s Hospital is a 50-bed facility originally established after a floating hospital operated by the Columbia Coast Mission was destroyed in a gale while being towed to Pender Harbour. The new 12-bed hospital was named after a Vancouver-based church that donated furnishings and a boiler in 1930. In 1964, the hospital relocated to its existing location on land donated by the Sechelt Indian Band. It underwent an extensive renovation and redevelopment in 2013 that prompted many in the community to seek a new name.