Downtown Vancouver hospital move draws fire

[SpongeG]

if they do move do you think they should keep the old building or just demolish the whole site?

Downtown Vancouver hospital move draws fire

The battle over moving St. Paul's Hospital from downtown Vancouver to the False Creek Flats near the train station is heating up.

The coalition that is trying to keep the busy downtown hospital at its current location on Burrard Street says the decision to move has already been made, despite promises to hold community consultations.

It claims that hospital staff were told by Providence Health Care last month the plans to move have been finalized.

Save St. Paul's Coalition spokesman Aaron Jasper told a public forum Sunday the public consultations should have happened before any preliminary plans were made.

"Any consultation that takes place after the decision is not consultation, it's a sales pitch. If this was to be meaningful consultation, it should have been done before a decision was made, [and] incorporate that feedback into the business case."

But Neil McConnell of Providence Health Care, who attended the forum, said the plans to move have not been finalized.

"Well, I tried to be very very clear. There's has been no decision relative to the hospital. And before we do that, we'll have public consultations to inform the business case. We'll rewrite it if we have to."

McConnell says the public consultations will take place in the spring and summer.

The current plan calls for part of the current St. Paul's site to be redeveloped for commercial and residential use.

Some services including urgent, primary and secondary care would also continue to be offered at the downtown location.

About 100 people attended the forum.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-col...-hospital.html

[Smooth]

I saw some posters up for this Coalition's meeting. It said something like: "What's in store for St. Paul's Hospital? P3, Privatization, Relocation? Come to our meeting to find out." Sounds like this group is trying to use scare tactics to build support for their cause.

I think the option that the health authority was exploring was to keep the remaining historical building as a clinic and community health centre and build a new facility on the false creek flats. I think upgrading the existing site would be far too expensive and would be very disruptive considering that St. Paul's is probably near capacity.

[twoNeurons]

HAs anyone got a map of the proposed location?

[eduardo88]

hopefully they do some sort of P3 project for the new hospital. bringing in the private sector could really get us a state-of-the-art facility.

[SpongeG]

Originally Posted by tintinium

HAs anyone got a map of the proposed location?

its right next to the train station near main and terminal

[Smooth]

Originally Posted by tintinium

HAs anyone got a map of the proposed location?

I believe this is the site being considered.

[twoNeurons]

I figured that's the location... but is it the whole site? Given that the population is moving slowly eastward, the move to False Creek Flats does seem a logical choice.

[Hed Kandi]

Originally Posted by tintinium

I figured that's the location... but is it the whole site? Given that the population is moving slowly eastward, the move to False Creek Flats does seem a logical choice.

Downtown is for prime commercial and residential space, not a hospital. I think that this is a very smart move.

Also, it reduces the noise polution of ambulances from downtown!

[mr.x]

^ yea but still, Downtown is home to what is now approaching to 100,000 residents. wouldn't you think it needs its own hospital like how it needs its own elementary and secondary schools?

i support a new False Creek Flats hospital, but i still think we need a downtown hospital. Perhaps they could downsize St. Paul's but still keep some emergency wards, etc. instead of turning it into just a clinic and the new Flats hospital could be built smaller and they could leave room for future expansion.

[EastVanMark]

Originally Posted by mr.x2

^ yea but still, Downtown is home to what is now approaching to 100,000 residents. wouldn't you think it needs its own hospital like how it needs its own elementary and secondary schools?

i support a new False Creek Flats hospital, but i still think we need a downtown hospital. Perhaps they could downsize St. Paul's but still keep some emergency wards, etc. instead of turning it into just a clinic and the new Flats hospital could be built smaller and they could leave room for future expansion.

Well said. We definitely need a downtown hospital.(Even a scaled down version). Too many senior residents in the west side who rely on that hospital being walking distance from their homes. A new hospital on the flats is not a practical distance for them. 2 facilities would service the region as a whole better. And more room can be added to the flats hospital as that area of town becomes more developed.

[Canadian Mind]

build the new flats hospital, close down St. Pauls, and build a tower with the lower 3-4 stories as a dedicated clinic. Might not be the simplest solution, but you could get whomever develops the land to pay for a really nice clinic as their ammenity providing gig, the more the pay to build the building, the more density they get.

[murman]

Originally Posted by Hed Kandi

Downtown is for prime commercial and residential space, not a hospital. I think that this is a very smart move.

Also, it reduces the noise polution of ambulances from downtown!

As a new resident of CityGate, I might have something to say in that regard.

[squeezied]

i like the idea of a new hospital, but i do share the sentiments of others that we do need a downtown hospital

[raggedy13]

I would vote for a combination between mr.x2's and canadian mind's ideas. Keep a downsized hospital at the site that could perhaps be renovated/updated/etc by the future developer of the site as an amenity which could then go towards bonus density for whatever new development goes in (hopefully something with an office component or at least something non-residential).

[hollywoodnorth]

Originally Posted by murman

As a new resident of CityGate, I might have something to say in that regard.

!NIMBY ALERT!
!NIMBY ALERT!

[murman]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

!NIMBY ALERT!
!NIMBY ALERT!

[djh]

Originally Posted by jlousa

Area news,

Prebid
Coquitlam
12 Story Office tower with retail at base, corner of Glen Dr and High St
Port Moody
26 Story Condo tower with 3 level U/G parking 300 Capilano Rd.
27 Story Condo tower with 3 level U/G parking 2025 St Johns.
Surrey
18 story Condo tower 15399 Guildford.
New West
28 Story Condo tower built onto of Zellers with additional floor of retail at 8th and 6th, currently on hold pending owners decision to advance.
Vancouver
New Hospital on False creek Flats V6A, in conceputal stage business plan under development, annoucement scheduled for Nov/07.

It's looking like the hospital will be a go, it's just a matter of finding a way to close St Pauls w/o too much fanfare.

Erm, just wondering if you guys just saw the news re. the plans for the hospital posted in the main Vancouver thread (see above)

[vitc]

What I would like to see is a "offshoot" mini skytrain right into the new hospital from Main Street station...wonder if this is possible.

[mr.x]

Originally Posted by vitc

What I would like to see is a "offshoot" mini skytrain right into the new hospital from Main Street station...wonder if this is possible.

but why?

[SpongeG]

because people will find it too hard to walk the block or two?