Canadian philanthropist and business leader Jim Pattison has donated $30-million to the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation (RCH), which will be used to support the second phase of the hospital’s redevelopment. The Acute Care Tower will be named after Pattison.
Royal Columbian is undergoing one of the most ambitious hospital redevelopments in Canadian history. The $1.49 billion project represents an unprecedented opportunity – and challenge – to elevate critical care at a hospital that serves one-third of B.C.’s population. With construction set to be complete in 2025, the Acute Care Tower is the crown jewel of the project.
“We want to express our sincere gratitude to Jim Pattison for this historical donation. Royal Columbian Hospital serves B.C.’s biggest health region and this gift, the largest in our region’s history, will ensure we can provide exceptional care to the patients who rely on the Columbian. Upon completion, the Acute Care Tower will further elevate the lifesaving care Royal Columbian Hospital already delivers to patients across the province,” says Jeff Norris, CEO, Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation. “Major improvements are being made in service to an even larger vision: ensuring uncompromising care to every single person who needs it. The generosity of Jim Pattison—and all the donors who have answered our call—serves as a source of inspiration for others to help us achieve this vision.”
As the regional referral hospital for cardiac, trauma, neurosciences, high-risk maternity and neonatal intensive care, Royal Columbian provides the highest level of care to some of the most critically ill and injured patients throughout the province. No other hospital in British Columbia provides all these services, at this level of care, on one site.
Building on Royal Columbian’s legacy, the new Acute Care Tower will include an interventional super floor featuring operating rooms and suites for interventional radiology and cardiology, a new Emergency Department with its own imaging unit, and new larger maternity, pediatric, and neonatal intensive care units, as well as multiple floors for acute and critical care patients. With almost double the current footprint, the redevelopment will increase the capacity of Royal Columbian by approximately 50 per cent to 675 beds.
