BC government seeking contractor for new $1.7 billion Cloverdale Hospital in Surrey

Exterior of the 2013-built expansion of Surrey Memorial Hospital and its emergency department. (Naturally Wood)

The procurement process for the project to provide Surrey with its second major hospital is now officially underway.

The provincial government announced today its request for qualifications (RFQ) process will lead to the selection of a short list of up to three contractor teams to design and build the new facility in Cloverdale. These teams will then be invited to participate in the request for proposal (RFP) stage, which will lead to the selection of the successful contractor.

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It is anticipated the RFQ process will reach completion in early 2022, followed by the RFP process. Construction on the facility is slated to begin in 2023 with an opening in 2027.

The hospital will be built at 5500 180 Street, immediately south of the Kwantlen Polytechnic University campus. It will occupy the large undeveloped parcel — about two thirds of the 44 acres that make up the university’s overall lot.

Spanning a total floor area of roughly 800,000 sq ft, the hospital will include 168 in-patient beds, a surgical/perioperative suite with five operating rooms, four procedure rooms, and an emergency department with 55 treatment spaces and virtual care capabilities. Additionally, it will also have a medical imaging department, with three CT scanners and two MRI machines, as well as a pharmacy, laboratory, and academic space.

Site of the new Surrey hospital in Cloverdale. (Government of BC)

Site of the new Surrey hospital in Cloverdale. (Google Maps)

The hospital is needed to accommodate the rapidly growing needs of Surrey’s population. The number of outpatient visits in Surrey is expected to grow from 296,000 in 2016-17 to around 423,000 in 2026-27, the number of emergency department visits is expected to increase from about 153,000 in 2026-17 to about 221,000 in 2026-27, and the number of inpatient and outpatient surgeries is expected to grow from about 47,000 in 2026-17 to about 63,000 in 2026-27.

“Our government is delivering on its commitment of a new hospital for people in Surrey and we are moving forward with procurement now underway,” said Adrian Dix, BC Minister of Health, in a statement.

“This is the first stage of the procurement process and invites teams to express their interest and qualifications for designing and building the hospital, which will help meet the public health-care demands of the fast-growing community.”

A major feature of this new hospital will be its integrated cancer centre, where there will be an oncology/ambulatory care unit with 50 exam rooms, 54 chemotherapy treatment spaces, and room for six linear accelerators for radiation therapy to provide care and support for people diagnosed with cancer. This will be the fourth cancer centre within Fraser Health’s operating jurisdiction.

According to the provincial government, it is expected that about 28,600 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in BC in 2021, and this figure will increase to 38,200 by 2030 due to an ageing and growing population.

It is forecast that 11,300 deaths in BC in 2021 will be due to cancer.

“Through our partnership with Fraser Health, we’re building our provincial capacity, ensuring British Columbians continue to experience some of the best cancer outcomes in Canada. BC Cancer provides an invaluable service improving these outcomes and providing the support patients and their families need,” said Dr. David Byres, president and CEO of the Provincial Health Services Authority.

The hospital will include a childcare centre and about 730 vehicle parking stalls, with 375 on surface lots and 355 underground.

Currently, the hospital is expected to have a construction cost of $1.66 billion and is entirely funded by the provincial government, making it the single largest investment by the province towards a healthcare facility.

The Cloverdale hospital is just one of several major hospital projects in Metro Vancouver this decade, which includes the redevelopment projects for Burnaby Hospital, New Westminster’s Royal Columbian Hospital, Richmond Hospital, and St. Paul’s Hospital.

Construction on the $2.2 billion first phase of a new hospital building for St. Paul’s in the False Creek Flats commenced earlier this year, and it is slated to reach completion in 2027. Last week, the procurement process was launched for the second phase of the campus, comprised of 800,000 sq ft of office space for clinical support and research uses.

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