The plan for a new St. Paul’s Hospital is officially a go, the provincial government announced on Friday.

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“For over 125 years, people in Vancouver and across British Columbia have benefited from the health care provided by St. Paul’s Hospital,” said BC Premier John Horgan. “Today, we are safeguarding these life-saving services by taking action to build a brand new St. Paul’s Hospital that will serve more people and offer better access to the specialized care people need.”

Doors of the new $1.9-billion St. Paul’s are expected to open in 2026 and will be located at 1002 Station St.

“British Columbians have always expressed great confidence, and taken great comfort, in the care delivered by St. Paul’s,” said Health Minister Adrian Dix. “After more than a decade and a half of stalling, it is exciting to give the green light to a new, state-of-the-art St. Paul’s Hospital that will continue this legacy for many years to come.”

The new facility will have a capacity of up to 548 beds, which includes 115 net new beds. The site will also be the home of several leading provincial programs and referral centres, including for heart and lung care, renal, eating disorders and specialty surgeries and transplants.

In addition, it will offer a diverse range of general and specialized care, including HIV/AIDS, chronic disease management services, emergency and critical care, mental health and addictions beds and programs, ambulatory services and outpatient clinics, end-of-life care, Indigenous health, maternity, colorectal and gastrointestinal services, and community care and community outreach programs.

For health-care workers, researchers and students, the hospital will provide access to medical projects like immunotherapy, precision medicine, virtual reality, robotics and 3-D printing. Medical records, test results and images will be instantly and securely accessible to patients and their care team no matter where people are in the hospital or the province.

It will also continue to be a teaching hospital, training hundreds of UBC medical students, BCIT nursing students and hundreds of other health-sector professions

A “new standard for health care”

Dick Vollet, the president and CEO of St. Paul’s Foundation, said the new facility will “establish a new standard for health care and for community building.”

The site, he added, “offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a hospital that’s purpose-built to put people first.”

His sentiments were echoed by Providence Health Care President and CEO, Fiona Dalton.

“This amazing project further strengthens BC’s position as a global leader in health care, research and teaching,” she said.

The project will be delivered using a design-build finance procurement model and will be cost-shared between the provincial government and Providence Health Care. The St. Paul’s Foundation campaign fundraising goal for Providence Health Care is anticipated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars with a portion allocated to the new core hospital.

The first phase of the St. Paul’s redevelopment project is building a new core hospital. Phase 2 is expected to include a clinical support and research centre. Future development opportunities will be confirmed upon completion of the Station Street rezoning.

Jim Pattison, chairman and CEO of the Jim Pattison Group, has already donated $75 million to the future of St. Paul’s, a historic contribution in Canadian health-care philanthropy. The current St. Paul’s Hospital land at 1081 Burrard Street will be sold with funds going toward the project.