Our vision: A new regional hospital and wellness village in Squamish

For the past two years a group of local citizens have been working to consolidate support for a new Sea to Sky regional hospital and health complex in Squamish. They have identified a potential 100 acre site for a a master-planned “wellness village” – the first in Canada.

This group includes:

• Grant McRadu (retired municipal administrator; past member, Canadian Institute of Planners)
• Dr. Steve Masselink (current Medical Director of Squamish General Hospital)
• Dr. Richard Cudmore (former Medical Director of Squamish General Hospital)
• Brian Hughes (retired Squamish lawyer)

It is focusing on the well-known challenges to our current public health services and facilities – and on a visionary solution.  It is important to note that none of these individuals has any financial interest in these proposals.

Dr. Cudmore:

“To protect the lives of just our current citizens, we urgently need a Sea to Sky regional district hospital.  We can no longer be a referral hospital.  Our patients need (and want) to be diagnosed and treated closer to home and not be constantly moved to Vancouver.  We need more hospital beds.  We need pediatric beds.  Our operating room program must meet Sea to Sky needs and accommodate a wide spectrum of illnesses.  General surgery, orthopedics, obstetrics, pediatric surgery, ear, nose and throat, and gynecology all require upgrades to their programs.  When our hospital was built, we delivered 150-200 babies per year and that number is now 400-500.  Improved service and space are urgently needed for psychiatry, together with palliative and hospice beds.  We also require CT and MRI scanners plus further ultrasound improvements.

 Dr. Stephen Masselink:

“Developing a partnership between the Sea to Sky Community and Vancouver Coastal Health is imperative at this time, to allow for urgent planning and development of a new regional Sea to Sky hospital and, ideally, a visionary health care village.”

Brian Hughes adds:

“We know that Vancouver Coastal Health is in the process of another review in order to determine their investment in the future of health care in our region. We have undertaken a great deal of research on hospitals. In addition to their obvious impact on the health of patients, there is a significant positive influence on the local economy, particularly when they are located within a master-planned area.”

Grant McRadu explained the importance of locating a new regional hospital within a “wellness village”.  These exist in other parts of the world but not yet in Canada. A wellness village is anchored by a hospital, but also contains multiple health facilities, services and agencies. Over the past year this group has had discussions, for instance, with an American biomedical research company that is very interested in this concept.  We have also been given names of Canadian biomedical companies that want to expand and would find the wellness village an attractive location.

These health-oriented complexes often include, in addition to light industry and medical services, a variety of residential accommodations, including staff housing and facilities designed for the elderly and others requiring special care.  They are complete health-oriented neighborhoods.

McRadu went on to explain that a distinct advantage to the wellness village concept is the ability to enhance the recruitment and retention of hospital staff.  It is a given that a new hospital will be in direct competition for a very limited supply of skilled professionals.  Locating a new hospital within a dynamic village that includes staff housing, therefore, can give our corridor a distinct advantage in recruitment and retention.

One key to a wellness village is having sufficient land to accommodate a hospital site as well as all the complimentary facilities and service.  Criteria for such a site would include highway access, geo-tech stability, and safety from natural hazards.  Our group has identified a one hundred-acre site in the north Squamish area, and have had encouraging conversations with the developer, who has expressed considerable enthusiasm about wellness village concept.

The group has met with multiple individuals and organizations and has received enthusiastic interest from Jeremy Valeriote, MLA, Patrick Weiler, MP, Squamish Mayor Armand Hurford, various Sea to Sky councillors, and Chair of the SLRD Hospital Board Jenna Stoner, who invited the group to present to the Board.   Jeremy Valeriote advised that this vision is consistent with the Green Party’s platform on health care, and is a project for which he could definitely advocate.

There has also been dialogue with Vancouver Coastal Health, which was receptive to the idea of co-locating a hospital with other medical facilities, and of having residential accommodations in close proximity.

With initial visioning and discussions having now taken place, the essential next step is for our regional elected representatives to take the lead in bringing the concept to fruition.  This means expending political capital to advocate for this vision, and by extension, for the health of the deserving citizens of Sea to Sky.

The group concludes with this thought:

“Every community is competing for health care facilities and medical professionals.  We strongly believe that our elected officials should work energetically and proactively to persuade Vancouver Coastal Health to approve funding for a dynamic new regional hospital – and to seriously consider the many benefits of locating it within a master-planned wellness village.”