After years of construction, work is now complete on the newest piece of health infrastructure on the North Shore.
The brand new, 108-bed Paul Myers Tower at Lions Gate Hospital will be open to patients starting on March 9. Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma made the announcement inside the Paul Myers Tower, on Wednesday.
“I know, personally as the local MLA here how important this new tower is to our growing community. It will provide a high-quality, state-of-the-art facility that residents and community members deserve,” she said.
With a growing and aging population, Ma acknowledged the demands on the existing Lions Gate Hospital often result in “hallway medicine” in which patients must wait on stretchers in the hallways before being admitted to a room.
Because of the benefits that come with a modernized hospital, Ma said they expect to see big improvements.
“The population needs in terms of health care are growing at a very rapid rate, and so we’re seeing pressures on our health care system all across the province, all across the country, indeed, all around the world,” she said. “[This] provides a very high-tech, state of the art facility that improves patient outcomes and allows us to deliver those outcomes sooner, which means that we’re actually able to serve more patients with the facility that we have.”
Getting a hospital wing built is one thing. Filling it with nurses and doctors is another. Although recruiting and retaining health care workers has been a challenge everywhere, Ma said the new tower will be fully staffed when it opens on March 9.
North Vancouver-Seymour MLA Susie Chant, who is a registered nurse in her life outside of politics, said the new building itself should help make it a destination for new staff.
“The new Paul Myers Tower is built with modern infrastructure, private patient rooms and new technologies to ensure the highest standard of care for the community and for our patients. As a nurse, I can tell you that it is absolutely critical,” she said. “We want people to come and know that they’re working in a place of excellence, and we have this to offer.”
Showing off some of the bells and whistles of the new operation room, Lions Gate urologist Victor Chow expressed confidence it will be a world-class facility.
“I’ve worked in a lot of ORs throughout the world. This is a really, really nice OR,” he said. “This helps attract staff, attracts good nurses, good surgeons. Who wouldn’t want to work here?”
Depending on which rooms they’re in, patients will have views of Burrard Inlet, the North Shore Mountains or the tower’s rooftop garden, something VCH board chair Penny Ballem drew specific attention to.
“I’m looking straight down the face of Grouse Mountain. We want light and people to be able to see the incredible surrounding that they’re in here, because we know that makes them healthier, and they feel more comfortable, and they feel more connected to nature,” she said.
Originally estimated in 2018 to cost $166 million, that figure grew to $325 million.
Of that, $100 million came from the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation, starting with a $25 million donation from Paul Myers, the North Shore businessman and philanthropist the building is now named for.
“The remarkable gift from Paul Myers, $25 million, was just the spark that we needed to get this long-held dream in motion,” said foundation president Judy Savage, adding that more than 6,000 donations from individuals and organizations followed.
After standing up for a round of applause, the self-effacing Myers said he was feeling “overwhelmed” by the praise.
Myers started his career as a plumber and worked on hospitals’ mechanical systems as he launched his own business. Myers said he wanted to give back.
“Well, I was fortunate in life,” he said. “And you only need to eat three meals a day.”
Members of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation) were consulted from the beginning of the design process to ensure the tower would be welcoming with culturally appropriate spaces for Indigenous patients and families to benefit from traditional healing while in care.
In a release, Tsleil-Waututh Chief Jen Thomas welcomed that inclusion
“VCH has demonstrated they are walking the path of reconciliation by engaging with us as partners to advise on how our traditional lands and waters could be reflected in the tower’s design,” she said. “I’m proud to know the building will tell the story of our culture, incorporate our hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language, and hold space for Elders as they access important health services.”
Sxwixwtn, Wilson Williams, spokesperson and council member for the Squamish Nation, also offered praise for how the space reflects the values, traditions and cultures of the First Nations people it will serve.
“From the façade resembling our Long Houses, to our stories and languages reflected throughout the interior and healing spaces, Paul Myers Tower is a thoughtful example of what can be accomplished when working meaningfully with First Nations to create a state-of-the-art medical facility that will benefit everyone across the North Shore community,” he said.
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