Concept planning begins for new tower at Richmond Hospital
At a public event held this morning, June 2 at Richmond Hospital, staff, physicians, patients and donors to the Richmond Hospital Foundation learned of the provincial intent to move forward to start plans for a new replacement patient care tower at Richmond Hospital.
Development of a Concept Plan will be undertaken in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health and Richmond Hospital Foundation. The concept plan will look at what the community needs now, and into the future.
RICHMOND,BC: JUNE 2, 2016 — A Richmond Hospital staff member looks at the plan for a new acute care tower for Richmond Hospital in Richmond, BC, June, 2, 2016.
“Our community of donors is thrilled to hear this news,” said Natalie Meixner, president and CEO, Richmond Hospital Foundation. “Regardless of whether our citizens have lived here for decades or whether they are newcomers, everyone holds health care as one of the highest priorities for themselves and their family. Our donors have been loyal supporters of improving health care in many areas over the past 30 years and the community, right from the inception of Richmond Hospital 50 years ago, has come together to make sure we are all playing our part. Today’s announcement is exciting news for Richmond.”
Planning is the first step toward a new tower
A modern patient care tower would replace the original tower to help ensure high quality of care continues at Richmond Hospital while allowing a more effective use of the facility and staff’s resources.
“Richmond has B.C.’s fastest growing population of seniors and is the fourth fastest growing urban centre in the province overall,” said Jennifer MacKenzie, chief operating officer, VCH Richmond. “Planning is already underway in Richmond for home care services and additional residential care facilities, to accommodate our rapidly growing population and the needs of patients.”
The concept plan will address:
- Private rooms which help improve patient outcomes, patient privacy and reduce exposure to communicable infections such as C Difficile and MSRA.
- Modern hospital equipment like smart beds and other technologies that monitor patient health and enhance care, which help hospital staff spend their time where most needed, ensuring the highest levels of patient care.
- Designing the facilities to improve patient flow helps make our system more efficient and improves health care for patients.
“Richmond is a unique and vibrant community and local health care is vital to all of its citizens,” said Teresa Wat, MLA for Richmond Centre. “Our government is proud to announce this important step for Richmond Hospital.”
A network of healthcare resources
The development of the concept plan will take into consideration the hospital’s role as part of a network of facilities delivering care for the citizens of the Richmond area and the entire Lower Mainland. The Ministry of Health is doing a review of services across the Lower Mainland to determine how they can work better as a system for patients.
This work is particularly important in the context of the many newly planned capital projects, including the redevelopments of St. Paul’s Hospital and Royal Columbian Hospital, to ensure services are integrated in a way that supports the Province’s vision of patient-centred care.