Meet John Intendencia and Parveen Bhatti, UBC Hospital LPNs and demo crew members for a day.

The dynamic duo won a staff contest to strike the first demolition blows for the renewal of Koerner Pavilion’s inpatient units. Swinging their sledgehammers with gusto, the team kicked off the second and final phase of the UBC Hospital (UBCH) Renewal Project.

“I’m looking forward to bigger patient rooms,” says Parveen, standing where the new Transitional Care Unit [TCU] will be built on Koerner’s first floor. “It will be much easier to get around and provide safe care.”

John agrees. “Safety is number one,” he says. “The renos will mean more space for wheelchairs and equipment and less clutter in the hallways. The new TCU will be safer for patients and nurses.”

Watch our demo duo at work

Note: To watch John and Parveen destroy walls, ensure you’re using Chrome as your browser.

A better environment for everyone

Construction of the new TCU is just the beginning. The second phase of UBCH Renewal includes building a new and enhanced Short Stay Surgery Unit and a new eight-bed High Acuity Unit. Improved staff facilities are part of the plans too.

Upgrading Koerner’s inpatient units will enable UBCH to care for more complex surgical cases and enable VGH to focus on providing emergency, highly complex and specialized surgical services without delaying or cancelling other patients’ surgeries.

Scheduled for completion in the fall of 2019, construction of the new inpatient units will mean staff working in the vicinity of construction noise and vibration — but John and Parveen are up for the challenge.

“It may feel chaotic at times, but we have a good team, a great community here, and we can adjust and support each other,” says John.

“I’m used to construction,” adds Parveen with a shrug. “My husband and I demo’d our home — and my mother’s.”

And, with that, she picked up her sledgehammer and took another swing.

UBCH Renewal Phase 2 timeline

Winter 2017

• Complete Education Room upgrades.

Summer 2018

• Open new Transitional Care Unit.

Spring 2019

• Open new High Acuity Unit.
• Open first half of new Surgery Unit.

Fall 2019

• Open second half of new Surgery Unit.
• UBCH Renewal complete.