Burnaby Hospital will be undergoing a major $1.3 billion redevelopment. The project is one of B.C.’s largest-ever health care investments.

The project will add two new patient-care towers with new wards and operating rooms, a total of almost 400 beds (the majority in single rooms), a bigger emergency department and a new cancer treatment centre. The last big upgrades at Burnaby Hospital happened more than 40 years ago.

“Burnaby is growing rapidly, and the hospital needs to be upgraded and modernized to keep up. This significant investment will help deliver the health care people in Burnaby need in world-class facilities,” said Premier John Horgan.

The project will start with a new six-storey, 11,858 square-metre, 78-bed, patient-care tower. The tower will include an upgraded mental health and substance use inpatient unit, and a new maternity ward to offer enhanced care for new parents and their families. The tower is expected to open in 2023, with construction starting in 2021.

The redevelopment will also upgrade the support facilities building on campus, creating a larger emergency department, increasing the number of treatment bays from 47 to 62, and adding a new medical device reprocessing unit. It will also add four new operating rooms, bringing the total to nine; as well as 18 new pre-operative and post-operative recovery spaces. These upgrades are expected to be complete by 2024.

The second patient-care tower will have 160 new beds and a state-of-the-art cancer treatment centre. It is expected to open in 2027. Detailed business planning for the tower is underway, with construction expected to begin in 2024.