A new patient tower at NRGH has been promised by the BC NDP, if re-elected in October. The project could take upwards of 10 years and cost $2 billion. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

campaign promise

New patient tower at NRGH promised by BC NDP, if re-elected in October

Sep 26, 2024 | 9:51 PM

NANAIMO — The BC NDP are making a major election commitment to residents on the central and north Island.

NDP leader David Eby, during an appearance at a campaign event in Nanaimo on Thursday, Sept. 26, committed his party to construction of a new patient tower at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, if re-elected next month.

Latest estimates suggest the cost of the project could near $2 billion and would take approximately 10 years to complete.

While Eby was light on details, including a timeline for the project, a new tower would replace the current facility which was built in 1962.

Capital projects involving NRGH are typically split on a 60-40 basis between the province and Nanaimo Regional Hospital District.

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It means the NRHD could have to raise around $800 million through taxation to contribute to the project.

It has capacity for 340 patients, but is routinely over subscribed by upwards of 50 or 60 people.

The facility has ranked poorly in studies in recent years for its ability to keep up with increasing demand.

“Sometimes you’re giving people cancer diagnosis while they’re in a hallway, sometimes you’re doing a resuscitation on a patient in a hallway or a closet. It’s an extremely inefficient and dangerous way to do medicine,” Dr. Joe Foster, a physician at the hospital since 1988, said.

Eby’s announcement Thursday is the second consecutive election where a major healthcare facility has been promised for Nanaimo.

Then-Premier John Horgan committed to a new cancer centre at NRGH during the 2020 campaign, a project which has seen a business case approved since.

The announcement follows months of campaigning from local stakeholders, led by the Fair Care Alliance.

The group held a rally in front of a capacity crowd in mid-September demanding the provincial government, regardless of the outcome of October’s election, equalize healthcare resources on Vancouver Island.

Current funding levels result in the north and central Vancouver Island, home to just over half the total Vancouver Island population, receiving about one-fifth the funding areas south of the Malahat receive.

The number of specialists and advanced medical options are also orders of magnitude more available in the Victoria area when compared to Nanaimo or other major centres.

While a new patient tower was among their asks, the group is also specifically requesting a catheterization lab at NRGH to treat a growing number of cardiac cases.

Dr. David Coupland, president of the hospital’s medical staff association, said at the rally cath labs became the standard of care in 2005 in a bid to provide better outcomes for people who’ve experienced a heart attack.

“Ninety minutes is the optimal time, the max is two hours [to get into a cath lab]…time is important so distance is important and if you can’t get there within two hours, you’re too far.”

He said a best case scenario for most patients who present to NRGH with severe cardiac issues is around four hours to get access to a cath lab in Victoria or Vancouver.

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