Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre

Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre
ARHCC Inc.
Main entrance of ARHCC
Location in British Columbia
Geography
Location Abbotsford, Fraser Valley, British Columbia, Canada
Coordinates 49°02′18″N 122°18′56″W / 49.038332°N 122.315526°W / 49.038332; -122.315526Coordinates: 49°02′18″N 122°18′56″W / 49.038332°N 122.315526°W / 49.038332; -122.315526
Organization
Care system Public Medicare (Canada) (MSP)
Funding Government hospital
Hospital type Regional hospital
Network Hospital: Fraser Health
Cancer Centre: BC Cancer Agency
Services
Emergency department Level II trauma center
Helipad Yes
Beds 300
History
Founded Aug 24, 2008
Links
Website Hospital
Cancer Centre
Lists Hospitals in Canada

Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre (ARHCC) is a 300-bed Canadian health care facility in the City of Abbotsford, British Columbia that houses the acute care Abbotsford Regional Hospital (ARH) operated by Fraser Health and the regional cancer facility (Abbotsford Centre) operated by the BC Cancer Agency.

ARHCC opened in 2008 as:

It is also the city's largest worksite in terms of number of employees.

Health services

The facility offers both inpatient and outpatient services to residents of Abbotsford and regional services to other communities in the eastern Fraser Valley (Mission, Chilliwack, Hope, etc.)

Hospital services

Fraser Health's Abbotsford Regional Hospital provides community hospital services to Abbotsford residents and regional services to about 330,000 residents of the eastern Fraser Valley.[5] These services include:

Cancer control services

The cancer centre portion of the building is independently operated by the BC Cancer Agency as the Abbotsford Centre, the fifth regional centre in the province, which was created to reduce waits and travel for residents of the eastern Fraser Valley who otherwise would have to travel to centres in Surrey or Vancouver for treatment.

The Abbotsford Centre offers a full range of cancer control services, including:

Philanthropic affiliations

History

Advocacy for the creation of the new hospital began two decades prior to its 2008 opening.[2]

East entrance to Ambulatory Care at ARHCC

Replacement of MSA Hospital

ARHCC was a state-of-the-art replacement for the obsolete MSA (Matsqui-Sumas-Abbotsford) General Hospital which was built in 1953 and was criticized as undersized by the time of its last major renovation in 1980.[7] The community served by MSA grew substantially in recent decades and the three districts amalgamated to form the City of Abbotsford after a plebiscite in 1995.[8] By the turn of the century, replacement of MSA Hospital was a political issue for the growing Fraser Valley community. After Gordon Campbell was elected as Premier of British Columbia in 2001, his local cabinet ministers Michael de Jong, John van Dongen and Mission MLA Randy Hawes advocated for construction of a new, larger hospital and addition of a regional cancer centre using a (P3) public-private partnership model.

Public-private partnership (P3)

Design, construction and facility maintenance services are provided by private partner Access Health Abbotsford, a consortium of companies including Sodexo, under a 30-year contract. The design reduced energy costs and environmental features that earned the hospital designation as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold by the Canada Green Building Council.[3][9] ARHCC was the first P3 infrastructure project for the province's newly created agency Partnerships BC. As a new model for BC public infrastructure, the P3 approach attracted criticism from groups such as Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. In the end, ARHCC was built on time and on budget ($355 million for construction and equipment) and the Auditor General of British Columbia assured the P3 approach would benefit government by $39 million over 30 years.[1][10]

Fraser Valley taxpayers contributed $71.3 million to construction and equipment costs through the Fraser Valley Regional Hospital District.[1]

Opening

MSA Hospital was closed and inpatients transported to ARHCC on opening day, August 24, 2008. At 60,000 square metres, the 300-bed ARHCC is almost three times the physical size of the 188-bed MSA facility.

The opening ceremony occurred in September 2008. Dignitaries included Premier of British Columbia Gordon Campbell, Health Minister George Abbott and Abbotsford Mayor George Ferguson.[2]

Patients volumes increased after opening in part due to residents of nearby communities checking out the modern facility and continued population growth in the region. At times, hospital congestion result in complaints about patients being cared for in stretchers in hallways.[11][12][13] Property adjacent to ARHCC was used by non-profit societies to build three facilities titled the Dave Lede Campus of Care:[14]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "New hospital and cancer centre opens in 100 days" (PDF). News release. Ministry of Health (British Columbia). May 16, 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Regional hospital finally open". Chilliwack Times. 12 Sep 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Integrating a cancer centre with a hospital, a first for Western Canada". Building for Better Health. Fraser Health. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  4. ↑ "Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre a case study in design". Canadian Healthcare Facilities. Fall 2011. pp. 28–30. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Backgrounder" (PDF). Partnerships BC. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  6. ↑ Abbotsford Centre - BC Cancer Agency
  7. ↑ "MSA hospital will soon be history here". Abbotsford Times. 13 Jan 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  8. ↑ Spitale-Leisk, Natalie (20 March 2014). "Speaking from amalgamation experience". North Shore Outlook. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  9. ↑ Murray, Nigel (30 Oct 2012). "Vancouver-area hospitals benefit from P3 projects". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  10. ↑ "Project Report: Achieving Value for Money Report Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre" (PDF). Partnerships BC, Ministry of Health Services. 2005. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  11. ↑ "New concerns over patients left in Abbotsford hospital hallways". News1130. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  12. ↑ Corbett, Neil (6 Jan 2012). "20-year-old patient dies in Abbotsford hospital hallway". Abbotsford News. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  13. ↑ Konevski, A. (4 Nov 2013). "Chronic congestion at Abby hospital is dangerous: BCNU". Abbotsford News. Retrieved 22 April 2014.
  14. ↑ Hopes, Vikki (11 Oct 2011). "Campus of care named in honour of Dave Lede". Abbotsford News. Retrieved 22 April 2014.

External links

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