Plans for a new hospital in Fort St. James have been discussed since 2008. On Tuesday, Jan. 14, it opened.
“The new hospital has a huge benefit for the community in terms of delivering better healthcare close to home," said BC Health Minister Josie Osborne. “I know this means a lot for the region. They've been waiting for decades to get out of the ATCO trailers and have the modern facility that will be here. So I think this will attract new workers to come to the region, which is going to be a huge benefit in just delivering better healthcare for people living in a rural area.”
The previous hospital, which opened in 1972, had 12 beds with no access to a decontamination room or dedicated area to receive or triage patients.
The new hospital is located at 606 Stuart Dr. E. The current Fort St. James Health Centre will be integrated with the new hospital at this address. All staff will be transferred to the new hospital with several new positions opening up soon.
The new facility will be three times the size of the previous hospital. It will have 27 beds, with 18 long-term care and nine acute-care beds. It also has an expanded emergency department with two treatment rooms, a trauma bay, and an ambulance bay. In addition, there will be bigger laboratory and diagnostic-imaging spaces.
“This is about providing equitable access for people who live in rural areas to health care," said Osborne. "There are too many barriers and challenges that people living in small rural northern remote community spaces when it comes to accessing health care so this is about putting all those services together expanding them making sure that people can stay closer to home and this will go so far in helping the community stay resilient and be well.”
The total cost of the new hospital is estimated at $158 million, including almost $140 million funded by the province through Northern Health, with a contribution of more than $18 million from the Stuart-Nechako Regional Hospital District.
First Nations in the surrounding community have been heavily involved in consulting the project, as the new hospital wants to ensure it is reflective of the local Indigenous culture and welcoming to everyone.
“There are five Indigenous nations in the region, and they'll be using this facility too and so they participated in some of the activities throughout planning the project," said Osborne. “They contributed to the direction of building design and looked at room layout, indoor gathering spaces and provided information about what was appropriate for them. Things like a healing garden and traditional plants and medicines can be put into some of the outdoor spaces, and then making sure that the theme of the building and the design elements are all congruent with Indigenous culture and create that feeling of a safer place for people.”
Osborne thanked community leaders past and present as well as regional hospital district leaders.
“This is decades in the making,” said Osborne. “It's the advocacy that people have put forward and explained to governments over and over about why this project was so important and I'm proud to be part of a government that listened and heard and I'm glad that John Horgan was able to be in the community in 2020 and make that announcement that the new hospital would be coming. I think tomorrow is a special day and the beginning of new and better services for Fort St. James.”
Demolition of the previous hospital is anticipated to begin in March 2025.
