The new $9 million high acuity unit (HAU) at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver has opened its doors. The HAU is located on the hospital’s second floor, next to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), bringing all of the hospital’s inpatient critical care services together where patients can be cared for by specialized teams of staff and medical staff.

The new HAU has 12 individual patient rooms providing a new level of care between the one-on-one care of the ICU and a general acute ward. The unit includes vital-signs monitoring equipment and other technology to support high acuity care, built-in patient lifts for patient comfort and staff safety and care cubbies that accommodate mobile workstations that allow nurses to monitor patients at the same time.

“The new high acuity unit at Lions Gate Hospital will help critically ill patients get improved access to the care they need,” said Minister of Health Adrian Dix. “I thank the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation and all those who donated to this project to make it happen.”

The HAU will serve patients who need more complex care than available on the medical and surgical units, but do not need the level of life support care provided in the ICU. Patients treated in the new unit will be cared for in a comfortable family-friendly space as well as supported by a multi-disciplinary team and the most up-to-date innovations in patient care and technology.

The HAU’s physical space has also been designed to welcome and accommodate families who are supporting their loved one and participating in their care, including large patient rooms to accommodate family visits, private patient-physician meetings and rehabilitation activities. The unit will serve approximately 1,400 patients each year.

The Seaspan High Acuity Unit is named in honour of a $1.5-million donation towards the unit from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation.