Vancouver-West End NDP MLA Spencer Herbert welcomes the news that St. Paul's Hospital won't be downgraded.

The B.C. Liberal government says it will not downgrade St. Paul’s Hospital. In a June 1 phone interview with the Georgia Straight, Health Services Minister Kevin Falcon acknowledged that there has been a great deal of speculation that services at St. Paul’s would be transferred to a new hospital that would be built on a Station Street site at False Creek Flats. When asked specifically if he has ruled out downgrading the West End hospital, Falcon said, “Yes. In a nutshell, yes.”

Moments later, he added, “I think there was a lot of people concerned that it might get downgraded, but St. Paul’s Hospital provides, as you know, world-class service in the whole range of areas, including their cardiac and their HIV [care], et cetera.”¦I can’t for a minute imagine that we would want to do any less than that.”

On May 26, Falcon said during a legislative debate of his ministry’s budget that he has been in discussions with Providence Health Care officials, who oversee the hospital. “They’ve got some very interesting ideas on some capital investments that could be made going forward,” he said, according to Hansard. “We are looking at that as part of our capital plan, and we still have a fair bit more work to do. I have to say that and point that out. But what I can tell you is that the discussions have been very positive.”

Spencer Chandra Herbert, the NDP MLA for Vancouver–West End, told the Straight by phone that Falcon’s comments in the legislature indicate that Providence officials are no longer working hard on developing a new hospital at the Station Street location. “If they continue moving down this road and if Falcon hears the voice of the community and actually decides that rebuilding on site is the way to go, it could mean that we have a new hospital in the West End,” he said. “It would be a phased approach. There is an empty parking lot in the back that I think will be the first spot they will go to to build.”

Falcon’s statement ruling out a St. Paul’s downgrade came after a massive community campaign dating back several years opposing a new False Creek Flats hospital, which would possibly have been built through a public-private partnership. In January 2009, the executive of the St. Paul’s medical staff wrote to Premier Gordon Campbell asking that the UBC teaching components remain and that cardiopulmonary and renal programs wouldn’t be transferred to other organizations.

Falcon’s mother worked as a nurse at St. Paul’s Hospital for more than 20 years. He said that since becoming the health services minister last June, he has visited the hospital numerous times and met with doctors, nurses, and administrators. “I felt it was important that I give some signal to try and put aside the uncertainty that’s been around this whole question of ”˜Is it an investment in Station Street?’ or ”˜Is it an investment in St. Paul’s?’?”

Prior to the 2009 provincial election, NDP health critic Adrian Dix alleged that the provincial government wanted to transform St. Paul’s into a community hospital, which he called “nutty health policy”. At the time, then–health services minister George Abbott said that no decisions had been made with respect to St. Paul’s, and accused the NDP government in the 1990s of cutting more than 3,500 acute-care beds.

In 2002, Providence Health Care announced its intention to proceed with a redevelopment of the hospital, including construction of a new tower and a new emergency department. Later, Providence revealed that it was preparing a business case for a new hospital on the Station Street site. On June 1, Providence spokesperson Shaf Hussain told the Straight by phone that a draft was done of a business case, but it was never reviewed by the provincial government. He didn’t offer an explanation, and referred all questions to the Ministry of Health.

Falcon praised Providence, which built St. Paul's as a Catholic hospital. "The fact that St. Paul's tends to be so innovative and tends to try different things is really founded on its unique historical nature," he said. "I really believe that has imbued the staff and the administration with a different perspective on delivering health care. That's something we value and we treasure—and we support.