New Surrey Hospital

To tackle the hospital crisis, the NDP government is investing $1.7 billion to build a new hospital in Cloverdale.

Lauding this development as an “extraordinary moment” for Surrey, Health Minister Adrian Dix said, “We have 18 major hospital projects in BC, but out of these, only one is a new hospital, only one community has that priority, which is a fundamental change in approach from the previous government.”

Though it may sound promising, the reality is quite different. The new hospital will only increase the region’s diagnostic and primary care capacity while offering 168 acute care beds, an ER, and a cancer center. All evidence suggests that this is not enough to address the needs of the province’s fastest-growing community—one that is already behind other Canadian cities when it comes to specialized care. Surrey residents, community leaders and medical professionals feel betrayed by what the government is finally implementing after a six-year wait. Harjinder Thind from Red FM, who has been closely monitoring the developments and advocating for a new hospital for almost two decades, says: “The NDP government promised a full-fledged hospital with specialized care facilities and at least 300 beds with additional room to expand. So, what it’s delivering is not a hospital but an election gimmick.”

Referring to the new hospital as a “glorified urgent care center,” Kevin Falcon, leader of the opposition, said that it’s absolutely inadequate for Surrey’s exploding population and that calling it a hospital is a bit of a stretch. “A hospital without a maternity ward for the youngest population in BC is unacceptable,” he added. Expressing his dissatisfaction with the location, he remarked, “It shows a lack of vision from the government as Cloverdale is not ready for a hospital. The government will need to invest further to make it feasible to run a hospital there, which can take years.”

Commenting on the location, Minister Dix said, “We had a much better hospital site on the Corner of 152 and Highway 10, which the previous government already sold.” Elaborating further, he said that Cloverdale is not just one of the fastest growing areas of Surrey, but will be one of the fastest growing areas of BC. It has the further advantage of being connected to Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and proximity to post-secondary education is essential for a hospital site. When questioned about the absence of infrastructure in the new hospital for the three leading causes of death or the lack of plans for a maternity ward, Minister Adrian Dix responded that his government is trying to make up for the BC Liberal Party’s failure to invest in Surrey’s healthcare and the new hospital is a “dramatic improvement” from what the previous government did for the community.

Downplaying the need for specialized care in Surrey, Minister Dix stated, “80% of patients at Surrey Memorial Hospital do not need critical or specialized care.” He suggested that the new hospital aims to alleviate Surrey Memorial Hospital’s burden of non-specialized services, implying that the current infrastructure at Surrey Memorial Hospital is satisfactory for meeting the region’s healthcare needs as long as the new hospital can cater to non-critical patients.

Dr. Sujatha Nilavar, a family physician residing in Surrey, said that the government’s failure to provide resources within the community amounts to neglecting the community’s requirements. She adds that redirecting women in labour to nearby hospitals or transporting critically ill patients by ambulance north of the Fraser River falls below the standard of care they aim to provide for their patients.

As a medical voice in the community, Gill looks at the new hospital as a community hospital that will not advance care the way it should. “The stakeholders—Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance and Fraser Health Authority need to be transparent about their decision-making and what impact they hope to achieve by pumping $1.7 billion into this new hospital,” says Gill.

The NDP government promised a full-fledged hospital with specialized care facilities and at least 300 beds with additional room to expand. So, what it’s delivering is not a hospital but an election gimmick.”

Prime Time Talk Show Host at 93.1 & 89.1 RED FM Vancouver

Fraser Health Authority’s primary mandate is to receive funding from the government and manage patients within its region. They collect data on community needs and have the power to advocate for better, more robust infrastructure. When contacted to understand why they supported the new Cloverdale hospital, they declined to respond directly and deferred the request to the Ministry of Health.

Meanwhile, Gill remains unconvinced of this new hospital in its current form. “I see no strategic advantage of having a community hospital in Cloverdale. Although a new hospital is welcomed, it doesn’t address the growing needs of our community,” he says. He suggests that one of the ways the government can bring new infrastructure to Surrey is by building a new critical care tower directly on the Surrey Memorial Hospital campus. Gill elaborated that “building a second critical care tower and tying into the existing infrastructure was originally planned for 2013-14. Doing it now would allow Fraser Health the expanded footprint to add acute care services such as Interventional Radiology, Cath Lab, Dialysis, expand our OB and Pediatric departments, finally addressing the community’s needs.”

On the other hand, Anita Huberman, President of the Surrey Board of Trade, sees this new hospital as an opportunity to support a thriving community in a new area. “The BC government has engaged in Surrey, but we’re still playing catch up. We all need to sit down with the Minister and look at priorities,” Huberman says.