BC Children's Hospital approved to open $222 million East Vancouver hub

BC Children's Hospital approved to build $222 million East Vancouver facility

Artistic rendering of the new Centre for Children and Youth Living with Health Complexity at 3580-3644 Slocan Street, Vancouver. (BC Children's Hospital)

The project to build a new expansion facility for BC Children’s Hospital in East Vancouver has reached a major milestone, following the project’s approval by Vancouver City Council.

In a recent public meeting, City Council unanimously approved the rezoning application to build the Centre for Children and Youth Living with Health Complexity at 3580-3644 Slocan Street, on a 6.7-acre site — equivalent to about two city blocks at the northeast corner of the intersection of East 21st Avenue and Slocan Street — in East Vancouver.

This will replace the site’s existing aging buildings previously home to the Sunny Hill Health Centre, which relocated to BC Children’s Hospital and BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre’s main campus on Oak Street in the Vancouver Westside in 2020.

You might also like:

BC Children’s Hospital’s new Centre for Children and Youth Living with Health Complexity will accommodate youth up to 19 years of age with a complex range of medical, emotional, and behavioural challenges. It will serve the needs of patients from across the province.

There were about 7,800 children with health complexity who accessed BC Children’s Hospital services in 2018, with 20% of these patients living outside the Lower Mainland. By 2035, it is expected this number will grow to 9,000.

The centre will be a new, first-of-its-kind centre in Canada for children living with health complexity, including a multi-disciplinary team with a single point of contact, assistance for families, training families, caregivers, and community care providers to support their child within their home community, and leveraging research and innovation to improve the quality of life for children with health complexity and their families.

3580-3644 Slocan-Street vancouver bc childrens hospital

Artistic rendering of the new Centre for Children and Youth Living with Health Complexity at 3580-3644 Slocan Street, Vancouver. (BC Children’s Hospital)

In a previous statement, BC health minister Adrian Dix stated this facility will “fill gaps in much-needed services and supports. While other jurisdictions in Canada offer similar services through separate programs, this will be the first centre in the country to provide such a comprehensive range of supports for children with medical complexity at a single site.”

The rezoning application to the City of Vancouver was first submitted in March 2022, and the provincial government formally announced its decision to proceed with the project in April 2022 at a cost of $222 million.

BC Children’s Hospital “is a fantastic care team that provides the best care for the sickest children in the province,” said ABC councillor Lenny Zhou, a former operations engineer for the hospital, during the meeting.

ABC councillor Lisa Dominato said she is proud that this facility is located within Vancouver, given that organizations with such services sometimes choose to leave the city when they outgrow their space.

OneCity councillor Christine Boyle added: “I think we’re very lucky, as a neighbour in the area, that we get to host this exciting facility and support the kids and families that need these services so badly.”

Artistic rendering of the new Centre for Children and Youth Living with Health Complexity at 3580-3644 Slocan Street, Vancouver. (BC Children’s Hospital)

Preliminary concept of the form of the new BC Children’s Hospital complex-care and daycare structures at 3580-3644 Slocan Street, Vancouver. (Dialog/Provincial Health Services Authority)

Designed by local architectural firm Dialog, this will be a three-storey facility with a total building floor area of 180,000 sq ft.

At the northwest corner of the site, infill development on open green space will create a separate, standalone, single-storey building with a childcare facility for up to 74 kids. There will be 11,900 sq ft of indoor childcare space, plus two expansive outdoor playing areas for two different age groups. The municipal government is covering half of the cost of the childcare facility.

A total of 133 vehicle parking stalls will be provided, mainly located within an underground parkade.

Only the Sunny Hill building will be demolished. The existing Annex and Hartman buildings will remain on-site, but will not be operational during demolition and construction. The Children’s Hearing and Speech Centre of BC at the northeast corner of the site will remain operational during demolition and construction.

Green councillor Adriane Carr complimented the design decision to retain as many of the development site’s existing trees as possible, and incorporate edible landscaping, community gardens, an outdoor covered seating area for eating, and a green roof including an outdoor amenity space.

Construction on the Centre for Children and Youth Living with Health Complexity is expected to begin in 2025 for completion and opening in 2028. This new centre will not replicate any of the acute services found at BC Children’s Hospital’s main campus on Oak Street.

The site was used as an isolation hospital over a century ago. In 1931, the Vancouver Preventorium for Children with Tuberculosis opened on the site and operated until the 1950s, when it became the pediatric chronic care facility. The site underwent numerous other uses before becoming the Sunny Hill Health Centre for providing children with rehabilitation care and developmental assessments.

The former Sunny Hill Health Centre building at 3580-3644 Slocan Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)

Preliminary concept of the form of the new BC Children’s Hospital complex-care and daycare structures at 3580-3644 Slocan Street, Vancouver. (Dialog/Provincial Health Services Authority)

You might also like: