Future of St. Paul's Hospital unclear

Health minister and NDP critic trade barbs over prospect of reduced services.

NDP health critic Adrian Dix has alleged that the B.C. Liberal government has a secret agenda to downgrade St. Paul's Hospital after the May 12 provincial election. In a phone interview with the Georgia Straight, Dix claimed that there is a good chance the hospital's cardiac program, renal services, and teaching functions will be transferred to other facilities in the region. He suggested that this would, in effect, turn St. Paul's into a “community hospital”.

“They're not going to announce it until after the election,” Dix said. “The idea that it makes sense anywhere to downgrade services—especially services in cardiac that are highly recognized at St. Paul's—is nutty health policy.”

Health Minister George Abbott told the Straight in a phone interview that he's “not surprised” to hear Dix “put the worst possible construction” on what might occur. Abbott emphasized that the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser health authorities are doing a great deal of planning at this time. “The fact of the matter is, no decisions have been made with respect to St. Paul's Hospital,” he said.

On January 30, the executive of the St. Paul's Hospital medical staff association wrote a letter to Premier Gordon Campbell demanding “immediate commitment and support” that the hospital won't be dismantled and its key provincial cardiopulmonary and renal programs moved to other organizations. The medical-staff executive also sought the premier's commitment to maintaining the hospital's UBC–affiliated research and teaching components.

The letter noted that St. Paul's Hospital treats some of the most vulnerable people in B.C. “We have received messages from our peers in the Lower Mainland health authorities that these organizations and the Ministry of Health are contemplating options and developing plans that would, in our opinion, critically damage St. Paul's Hospital's key provincial programs and the hospital's international reputation as a centre of research, teaching and care excellence,” the medical-staff executive wrote.

In 2002, Providence Health Care announced a four-phase redevelopment of St. Paul's Hospital, including construction of a new tower on the northwest corner of Burrard and Davie streets and a new emergency department on the corner of Thurlow and Comox streets.

Since then, the operator of St. Paul's Hospital has prepared a business case for building a new hospital on Station Street near the Main Street SkyTrain station. City council would have to rezone the land, according to a 2005 memo written by then–director of current planning Larry Beasley.

On Thursday (March 5), Vision Vancouver councillor Geoff Meggs will introduce a motion before the planning and environment committee, seeking council's endorsement of the St. Paul's Hospital physicians' demands. Meggs's motion includes a resolution that the city will work with the provincial government and Providence Health Care to achieve these objectives at both the West End and Station Street sites.

Brent Granby, vice chair of the Save St. Paul's Hospital Coalition, told the Straight he's a “bit concerned” that Meggs included the Station Street site in his motion, in the absence of any economic-impact study. “I don't think the city has enough information to know if it is going to have a positive impact on the city,” Granby said.

In its letter to the premier, the St. Paul's Hospital medical-staff executive sought a promise that the long-term renewal of St. Paul's Hospital will begin within four years. Abbott said he is waiting to hear a “well-articulated plan” from the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser health authorities before making a decision on the hospital's future. “One could redevelop St. Paul's on-site, but it would be a longer-term project because you would be building around a very busy tertiary hospital,” he said. “But it could be done.”

Dix noted that the two Lower Mainland health authorities reported a shortage of 658 acute-care beds in this region last year, another argument against downgrading St. Paul's Hospital. When asked about this, Abbott retorted that the NDP government cut more than 3,500 acute-care beds during the 1990s, attributing this figure to a B.C. Medical Association report.

“It's refreshing to hear that they may have changed their views, given the performance in the 1990s, when, at least for a portion of that time, Mr. Dix was chief of staff to the premier of the province,” Abbott said.