The new Joseph & Rosalie Segal Family Health Centre at the Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) is one step closer to reality thanks to a recent donation of $1-million from Bell Let’s Talk. Once complete, the $82-million, eight-storey development will be the largest purpose-built mental health facility in British Columbia.
Scheduled to open in early 2017, the state-of-the-art project will be LEED Gold certified. The building, which entered construction in October of last year, will feature:
- 100 private patient rooms with en-suite bathrooms;
- Exercise facilities;
- Rooftop gardens;
- A new public park;
- Reading and meditation quiet areas;
- A family and visitor lounge; and
- An outpatient reception and waiting area with a built-in aquarium.
“Bell’s gift will help us increase access to mental health services,” says Dr. Soma Ganesan, VGH Medical Director of Psychiatry. “One in five Canadians is diagnosed with a mental illness in their lifetime. This new facility is designed to provide an appropriate environment for patients to heal, for families to receive the best support, and will allow staff to provide care in a safe environment. Our goal is to give every patient the tools they need to manage their illness and live in the community with dignity and respect.”
The new centre, which will consolidate inpatient and outpatient services into one location, replaces outdated facilities built in the 1940s. On an annual basis, the centre will be capable of treating up to 1,900 people in the inpatient program and 30,000 in the outpatient program.
