Burnaby Hospital renewal to start with $5.48M in priority projects
Fraser Health Authority has completed a year-long master planning process for Burnaby Hospital and identified three immediate projects totalling $5.48 million to improve patient care and safety.
The work will help sustain core services while the hospital awaits implementation of the rest of the Burnaby Hospital High Level Master Plan which does not call for a brand new hospital, as many in the community were asking for, but a combination of existing buildings and new ones.
"The oldest facilities (1952 and 1958) have exceeded their useful life and need to be removed to enable renewal," said a summary of the master plan. "However the central diagnostic and treatment facilities, and patient tower represent a significant investment in infrastructure that can be enhanced and continue to provide great service."
Phase 1 of the renewal plan includes a proposed expansion and renovation of the central support building followed by a new ambulatory and inpatient tower.
Phase 2 would add allow for a 500-bed community hospital. The total capital cost of the redevelopment plan would be up to $550 million.
Beyond those two phases, the plan contemplates adding two additional buildings in future phases over the longterm.
In the short term, Fraser Health will implement three immediate priority projects.
They include a $2-million expansion of the emergency department's "supertrack" which looks after people who come to the hospital with minor ailments, such as bruises, allergic reactions, infections and lacerations. Such patients made up an average of 31 per cent of all visits to the ER in 2011-2013, and are projected to account for more than 25,000 visits annually by 2018-2019, according to a Fraser Health press release.
The supertrack has a separate area for such non-urgent patients and is staffed with its own team of doctors, nurses and unit clerks. The expansion will be funded through $1.5 million from Fraser Health and $476,000 from the Burnaby Hospital Foundation.
Fraser Health will also increase the operating-room time for surgeons to perform endoscopies and cystoscopies at the hospital from 36.1 hours per week to 64 hours, or an additional 50 procedures a week, resulting in shorter wait times for the often life-saving procedure, the release said.
Endoscopy is a medical exam in which an endoscope, which usually has a fibre-optic camera, is passed into an area of the body to investigate symptoms and often also to retrieve small samples for further analysis. A cystoscopy inspects the bladder and prostate via a cystoscope inserted in the urethra.
To accommodate the increase, $2.1 million in structural improvements will be made to enlarge the space needed at the hospital's ambulatory care centre for the scope-cleaning area and additional endoscopy equipment will be purchased.
Capital upgrades will also take place at the sterile processing department where surgical instruments and medical devices are cleaned, decontaminated, disinfected and sterilized.
The upgrades will cost $1.38 million and are part of efforts to improve infection control and prevention at the hospital, which is expected to be the site of over 16,500 surgeries and procedures per year by 2020.
The sterile processing department upgrades will be completed over three years while the renovations to the supertrack and endoscopy unit will take 18 months.
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
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