Surrey Getting The of the Stick Hospital Crisis in Surrey

Home to over 600,000 people, Surrey is one of the fastest-growing cities in the Lower Mainland, with its population increasing by almost 10 percent every year. Compared to other cities, Surrey is far more welcoming due to its affordability, diversity and economic opportunities, which makes it a hub for the immigrant population. Given this and the federal mandate to bring more workers into the country, Surrey is projected to become the most populous city in BC in the next two decades. However, this growth has strained the city’s healthcare system, leaving hospitals under-equipped to take care of its increasing population, a vital issue that needs to be addressed.

As Surrey residents and the medical community reel under pressure to somehow manage its hospital needs, politicians and political parties play the blame game and offer solutions that are inadequate for the community’s growing needs. Dr. Randeep Gill, chairman of the Medical Advisory Board for Surrey Hospitals Foundation, shares his firsthand experience from the ER at Surrey Memorial Hospital, providing insights on what the city needs versus what it’s getting when it comes to an issue that directly impacts its residents’ survivability.

Surrey Memorial Hospital, recognized as a regional hospital, provides specialized care to the ever-increasing population of Surrey and surrounding areas. The hospital’s Emergency Department is the busiest in the province and second busiest in the country and took care of a staggering 171,467 Surrey residents in 2022-23. On average, the hospital sees close to 600 patients a day. As it grapples with this overwhelming patient volume, the hospital struggles not just with the problems of overcrowding and understaffing, which is the bane of the healthcare sector in the current times, but also a lack of infrastructure when it comes to specialized care. As a result, close to 1400 critically-ill patients had to be transferred to other hospitals north of the Fraser River for life-saving interventions in 2021 alone.

In February this year, the Surrey Board of Trade released a report titled “Surrey’s Hospital Needs,” highlighting the lack of hospital infrastructure in Surrey. The report underscored that Surrey is the only large city in Canada that lacks the necessary facilities to treat three leading causes of death: heart attacks, strokes, and trauma.

Dr. Gill, who has been advocating for a change in the situation, understands that Surrey residents deserve more and that the government is not adhering to the standard of care south of the Fraser. “Surrey is the second largest city in BC with a high incidence of heart attack, stroke, and trauma—so, why is there no plan to bring life-saving resources to the community?” he asks.

According to Gill, every major city in Canada has a hub for addressing the leading causes of death. However, despite being situated in one of the largest and fastest-growing cities in the country, Surrey Memorial Hospital does not have the necessary infrastructure to intervene when it comes to these causes of death. The hospital’s cardiac department can manage heart failure or deal with patients with heart infections, but it’s not equipped to perform surgeries like valve replacement or vessel opening. Gill states, “The standard of care is to intervene within 90 minutes. When a patient presents to Surrey Memorial with a heart attack, transferring them to a better-equipped hospital delays intervention which could have deadly consequences.”

The standard of care that Surrey residents should be getting seems out of reach now and in the near future despite NDP’s plan to invest $1.7 billion to build a new hospital.

The standard of care is to intervene within 90 minutes. When a patient presents to Surrey Memorial with a heart attack, transferring them to a better-equipped hospital delays intervention which could have deadly consequences.”

- Dr. Randeep Gill Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board for Surrey Hospitals Foundation

Memorial Hospital, agrees with Gill and has been pushing for a catheterization (cath) lab to cater to the needs of Surrey’s growing population, which is more prone to heart attacks. “Surrey’s population is unique from the rest of the lower mainland as it consists of people of South Asian descent who are genetically predisposed to a higher prevalence of heart attack,” she says. Currently, most patients presenting with a heart attack are taken to Royal Columbian Hospital, while 30% still go to Vancouver General Hospital or St. Paul’s, depending on where they can be accommodated. “Part of the way to treat a heart attack is to take these patients to a cath lab. However, despite such a high incidence of heart attack in this demographic and knowing that time is of the essence, we still don’t have a cath lab yet,” she adds.

The situation is equally grim when it comes to the hospital’s pediatric department, which has 12 pediatric emergency rooms. It was built to serve 20,000 patients a year but saw over 51,000 patients in 2022. What’s worse is that the hospital does not have a pediatric ICU. “Lack of pediatric specialty care was among the top three reasons why close to 1,400 critically ill patients were transferred to hospitals north of Fraser in 2021,” confirms Gill.

Another area where the hospital struggles are its maternity services. The hospital’s birthing unit was built for 4,000 deliveries a year, but the number of births in Surrey was upwards of 6,000. Five out of seven days a week, the hospital is on diversion, which means that mothers in labour are redirected or left at the mercy of other hospitals, such as Peace Arch which is often on diversion itself. “My wife, who is an anesthetist and on call for Peace Arch regularly, is witness to the number of times both the hospitals are on diversion, yet there is no plan to increase the capacity. Despite knowing that Surrey is a growing community with many young families, we have only added four new maternity beds at the Surrey Memorial Hospital in the last two decades. How does any of this make sense, and how are we taking care of the community and the new immigrants we are bringing into our country?” asks Gill.