A new or refurbished Burnaby Hospital is still in the works according to the city’s lone Liberal MLA, but critics won’t be holding their breath.
Burnaby North MLA Richard Lee said he spoke with the Minister of Health recently and was told there was a location for the new hospital and the project would start in the next three years.
He said there is $4 million in funding for the planning process of new hospital, which would be located at the current site.
Lee noted a new St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver and the redevelopment of Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster are ahead of a new hospital for Burnaby.
“The planning itself is very fluid right now, at this stage, depending on how the project for St. Paul’s and Royal Columbian are going,” he told the NOW. “I firmly believe this is coming and it’s in stages coming.”
Lee also suggested there might be adjustments to the capital plan for the hospital in an effort to try and avoid overlapping services with the two new hospitals in the region.
Last week, the NDP’s Kathy Corrigan was critical of the 2016 provincial budget for not including any funding to replace or fix the aging hospital.
Lee, who repeated that he wants to see the hospital built, was on the defensive, noting over the last 15 years the provincial government has spent $36 million on upgrades to the hospital, most recently opening a new operating room.
“We don’t wait for the new hospital, we improved the actual working environment, facilities as well as services to the patients,” he said.
A new Burnaby hospital has been a longstanding issue in the community and a part of campaign promises during various provincial elections, though no date had ever been attached to any work.
“The reality is he (Lee) has no idea when an announcement is going to be made,” Corrigan said, noting there’s nothing in the province’s capital budget about the hospital. “It’s a real stretch. There’s nothing tangible at all at this point, as far as I’m concerned he’s just throwing a number out there.”
Corrigan added even if the province makes a commitment, she wouldn’t trust it, pointing out past election promises on the issue.
The Burnaby-Deer Lake MLA said the real concern is that the hospital is not in the lineup to be replaced or refurbished, nor has a commitment been made.
“What Burnaby deserves as the third largest city in the province, is we deserve to have that hospital in part or in whole replaced,” she said.
Corrigan also criticized a decision last year by the provincial government to sell lands on Willingdon Avenue near BCIT, which she suggested could have been used for a new Burnaby hospital.
A Fraser Health review in 2014 reported Burnaby Hospital was among the worst in Canada for indicators like hospital-acquired infections and fractures, readmission rates, and treating patients with fractured hips within 48 hours.
Officials with the health authority said at the time the data in the report was two years old and improvements have been made since then.
