Premier John Horgan announces far larger, far grander, and far more ambitious Richmond Hospital expansion

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      Back in 2018, Premier John Horgan and Health Minister Adrian Dix visited Richmond to announce a new eight-storey hospital tower.

      An analysis two years earlier had put the cost at $283 million; the Richmond Hospital Foundation was prepared to put in $40 million to $50 million.

      Today, Horgan and Dix were back in Richmond to announce a "far larger, far grander, [and] far more ambitious" Richmond Hospital expansion, in the words of the premier.

      Under the new concept plan, the tower will be nine storeys and have 220 beds, bringing the total number at the hospital to 350.

      "People will have better access to care because of a new emergency department, a fully equipped medical-imaging area, another intensive-care component, as well as pharmacy, pediatric, surgical, and mental-health services," Horgan said.

      The premier also said that this will create thousands of construction jobs.

      Vancouver Coastal Health chair Dr. Penny Ballem described Richmond as the fastest-growing community in Metro Vancouver.

      "It takes a lot of courage to look at a plan and say that it's not quite there—and then to have a government that's prepared to work with you to give you a bit more space and capacity to really make sure you get it right," Ballem said.

      The B.C. government is also financing a new $1.9-billion St. Paul's Hospital on False Creek Flats in Vancouver and the $1.3-billion redevelopment of Burnaby General Hospital. The NDP government has also approved a concept plan for a new acute-care hospital in Surrey's Cloverdale town centre.

      That's in addition to 17 new urgent and primary care centres across the province.

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