On April 28, more than 100 people filled the lecture theatre at Koerner Pavilion to celebrate, connect and learn more about the UBCH Renewal Project now underway.

“You could feel the excitement in the room,” says Tracey Taulu, operations director, UBC Hospital (UBCH). “Today was a long time in coming and we had every reason to celebrate.”

The crowd, a mix of physicians, staff, and VCH partners, filled the house to capacity. Special guests included Lynedah Vartell, Lorne Thompson and Chris Simons, all patient/family advocates for the UBCH Renewal Project. With their help and unique insights, we’ll transform UBC Hospital’s inpatient clinical spaces and much more.

A community with heart

Trivia prize winners (l to r): Satoshi Iura, Christina Moes, Louise Peterson, Annie She and Matt Johnstone.

To kick off the event, Vivian Eliopoulos, chief operating officer for Vancouver Acute, shared her memories about working at UBCH in the early 1990’s. Recalling a “community with heart,” she says the best qualities of UBC Hospital are still evident today, and they’re the strengths the UBCH Renewal Project will build on.

Barbara Grantham, president and CEO of our VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation joined the celebration as well. She added her congratulations and introduced the Foundation’s new “Vital” campaign, which will raise the funds required to transform UBCH into a hub for scheduled surgeries.

Enhancing Koerner Pavilion’s surgical and high-acuity bed capacities to accommodate more complex surgical cases will support the relocation of scheduled cases from VGH to UBCH. And that, in turn, will mean fewer surgery postponements and more patients waiting less time for the surgery they need.

More than surgery

Medicine physicians (l to r): Drs. Graydon Meneilly, Maria Chung and John Stockton.

UBCH renewal is about much more than surgery, too. The project also encompasses the Transitional Care Unit and Internal Medicine inpatient clinical space, Spiritual Care, the Sleep Disorders Program and more.

Serving as B.C.’s primary referral centre for complex sleep disorders, the UBCH Sleep Disorders Program currently operates out of two separate suboptimal spaces in Koerner Pavilion. Uniting the program’s clinic and lab in a new state-of-the-art space in Purdy Pavilion, and expanding the program from six to nine beds, will improve patient access to treatment.

“The importance of sleep, and the accurate diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders is often underrecognized,” says Dr. John Fleetham, program co-director. “We’re very excited about the program’s relocation and expansion, which will benefit patients and facilitate the program’s internationally respected research.”

It seemed just about everyone left the event with a renewed appreciation for UBC Hospital’s rich history and optimism for the future — even among our service partners.

“I learned a great deal about the long history between VGH and UBC Hospital, how closely they’ve operated in the past, and how tightly their operational visions are connected,” says Matt Johnstone, Sodexo manager for retail food services. “I thought the event was really nice touch to acknowledge the hard work of UBC Hospital staff. I look forward to supporting the talented folks at UBC and VGH.”

We want your feedback

Picturing the future: Drafts of new floor plans were on display.

Whether or not you could join the celebration, we want to hear from you and learn how you’d like to stay informed about the UBCH Renewal Project.  Here is a link to our brief and confidential survey.

Please complete the survey no later than May 13, 2016.

Learn more

• UBCH Renewal Project website (internal link on VCH Connect)
• Email OneVancouver@vch.ca using the email subject line: UBCH Renewal.