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Outpatient Hospital Reaches Construction Milestone

October 15, 2009
   
SURREY – Construction on the $239-million Surrey Outpatient Hospital reached a milestone today, with the completion of the framing and capping of the roof. The occasion was marked by Health Services Minister Kevin Falcon, along with representatives from Fraser Health, with a tribute to workers and the sealing of a ceremonial time capsule.

“It’s great to see this world-class facility come to life before our eyes,” said Falcon. “When it opens in 2011, the Surrey Outpatient Hospital will see around 450,000 outpatient visits a year and dramatically reduce impact on the existing Surrey Memorial Hospital and emergency department. The work that the entire construction team here is doing is just phenomenal, and will make a huge difference for decades to come.”

The contents of the time capsule will symbolize to those in the future how the delivery of health care has transformed. These items today symbolize moving forward to new and better ways of health care. The capsule was placed within the lobby wall of the new facility by Falcon and Dr. Nigel Murray, president and CEO of Fraser Health.

“Surrey is experiencing one of the fastest growth rates among Canadian cities, and will in a few years become the largest in British Columbia,” said Dave S. Hayer, MLA for Surrey-Tynehead. “Construction of the Surrey Outpatient Hospital will go a long way towards addressing the health care needs that growth brings to our city.”

“The 17,500-square-metre outpatient hospital will revolutionize the way health care is delivered here in Surrey by including room for day surgeries, health clinics and family medicine,” said Stephanie Cadieux, MLA for Surrey-Panorama.

It will offer day surgery, medical tests and procedures and specialized health clinics, including a primary-care enhanced family practice with general practitioners, all within the same building. Along with new state-of-the-art medical and diagnostic equipment, the facility will have six operating rooms for day surgeries and 10 procedure rooms, adding to the 15 operating rooms at Surrey Memorial Hospital.

“This new centre is about delivering the right care in the right place to better meet the health care needs of our community,” said Dr. Murray. “It’s very exciting to see this building come to life and have items from our staff and physicians included in this mark in time. In 2041 our counterparts will open this time capsule and see how far things have progressed – thanks in part to the tireless efforts of our employees and physicians who have researched best practices throughout the world and are working to bring those practices here to Surrey to deliver care more effectively and efficiently. This new facility will be an exceptional outpatient care and surgery centre.”

Technology will play a big role in the way the new Surrey Outpatient Hospital operates. Time capsule items include forms and paper processes that will soon be replaced with new information-technology solutions such as online forms and orders, as well as other “day in the life” items submitted by Fraser Health employees and physicians working on the project.

The outpatient hospital is a major initiative for Fraser Health and the Province to address population and health care demands in the Fraser Valley. Research has shown that efficiencies and improvements in service can be achieved by moving outpatient treatment and care out of an acute hospital environment. Consolidating outpatient services can also result in faster diagnosis, reduced wait times and better health outcomes for patients.

The Surrey Outpatient Hospital is a component of the Province’s plans to improve access to health care and ease congestion at Surrey Memorial Hospital (SMH). This includes a critical-care tower at SMH to begin construction in 2010, which will increase the number of acute-care beds by over 30 per cent and will include a new emergency department almost five times the size of the old ER.

The Surrey Outpatient Hospital is designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification.

Construction of the outpatient hospital will be completed by April 2011, with opening scheduled for July 2011. The private partner is BC Healthcare Solutions, who is responsible for the design, build, finance and maintenance of the new facility. All clinical health services will be funded by the Province and provided by Fraser Health, in accordance with the Canada Health Act.

The Surrey Outpatient Hospital project is part of an overall, three-year, $14-billion capital infrastructure program, which includes $2.9 billion for capital spending in the health sector, supported by the Province, that will create up to 88,000 jobs and help build vital public infrastructure in every region of B.C. Visit www.gov.bc.ca/infrastructure for more information.

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BACKGROUNDER
   
SURREY OUTPATIENT HOSPITAL

Scheduled to open in 2011, the new Surrey Outpatient Hospital strives to create better health within the community by providing an integrated and seamless network of outpatient health care services for residents of the Fraser Valley. The new care and surgery centre will be a leading facility in the delivery of outpatient services – a model of best practices and clinical integration, as well as a great workplace for physicians and employees.

What is an outpatient?

An outpatient is an individual who receives medical care or treatment that does not require an overnight stay in a hospital or medical facility.

Highlights of the new client-focused Outpatient Hospital

Expanded day surgery, diagnostic services and a satellite lab to Surrey Memorial Hospital:
  • Six operating rooms and 10 procedure rooms with further expansion capability.
  • New state-of-the-art medical equipment, including an MRI and two CT scanners, radiology, bone density, ultrasound, mammography, nuclear medicine and cardiac diagnostic equipment.
Extensive space for clinics, including:
  • A breast health program based on the European EUSOMA model that will provide significantly faster diagnosis for clients, reducing the time for diagnosis from as much as seven months to just 14 days.
  • A urology clinic for clients dealing with conditions such as kidney stones and prostate health. It will offer lithotripsy treatment for the first time within Fraser Health, to non-invasively treat kidney stones and other stones in the gallbladder and liver.
  • The first comprehensive HIV/AIDS/Hepatitis C program in the Fraser Valley.
  • An enhanced family practice with GPs, to help minimize repeat emergency visits by providing follow-up care to Surrey Memorial Hospital patients who do not have a family physician and are in need of further monitoring.
  • Other enhanced clinics for chronic disease, such as asthma and diabetes, perinatal, seniors, and surgical clinics.
Learn more about the Surrey Outpatient Hospital by visiting www.fraserhealth.ca, click on Building for Better Health under About Us.
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Authorized By Jim Pipe, Financial Agent BC Liberal Party.
Tel: 604.606.6000, 1.800.567.2257