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Improvements are on the horizon for Burnaby Hospital’s emergency and outpatient services with the approval of the Burnaby Hospital Renewal Project. Plans for the project include the creation of a mental health and substance use zone in the emergency department, and the consolidation of outpatient services.
Burnaby Hospital’s emergency department is one of the busiest in B.C., with over 80,000 patient visits each year. Built in 1978, the emergency department was originally designed to focus on medical and surgical care. However, over the years the hospital has experienced an increased need for emergency mental health services.
The renewal project will add designated rooms, new equipment and bring in specialists (social workers and therapists) specific for mental health and substance use patients, to the emergency department. “We need a dedicated space to really provide wraparound services for people,” says Burnaby Hospital Foundation president and CEO Cheryl Carline.
The second part of the project is aimed at improving the outpatient experience by consolidating these services. Outpatient services are procedures that do not require an overnight stay at the hospital. This includes wound care, medical day surgery and the rapid access clinic.
“Right now a lot of the different services are in different parts of the hospital,” says Carline. This scattering of services can make hospital visits more difficult—especially for patients, such as seniors, who may be required to visit various parts of the hospital in order to address their care needs. The renewal project will bring all outpatient services together in the same area. “It’s creating a new dedicated space,” says Carline.
Neither aspect of the project will require the construction of new buildings. Instead, facilities are being relocated and new equipment is being added to each department within the existing hospital infrastructure. “It’s really just reshuffling,” says Carline. “That will improve patient comfort.”
The renewal project is slated for completion in 2020 and is projected to cost $14 million in total. Over one of third of that, $5 million, is coming from the Burnaby Hospital Foundation.
“Over the next four years we will need to raise five million dollars and that’s all donors,” says Carline. The foundation is supported entirely by donor contributions.
This is the largest project the foundation has undertaken during Carline’s tenure, but may not be the last. The renewal project is the first phase of a long-term improvement vision, as the province begins work on a three-year redevelopment plan for the entire hospital.