University Hospital of Northern BC, Prince George
PRINCE GEORGE – Enhanced acute care and a dedicated cardiac unit is one step closer for the people of Northern BC with the approval of the business plan for a new patient-care tower at the University Hospital of Northern British Columbia (UHNBC).
The population in the area has outgrown the hospital that was built in 1958. The redevelopment will more than double the current number of beds for surgical, mental-health and cardiac services from 102 to 211. This will address the three areas most in need of upgrades and allow for better co-ordinated patient care.
Cardiac care, currently dispersed throughout the hospital, will be centralized in the 11-storey acute-care tower with a new six-bed cardiac-care unit and a new 20-bed cardiac step-down unit. Along with interventional cardiac services, northern residents will have better access to the critical cardiac care they need closer to home.
The tower will also house a state-of-the-art surgical unit with 47 new beds, bringing the total to 102, and it will increase the size and number of operating rooms from seven to 12. An expanded medical device and reprocessing department will add to the improved surgical capacity and create a more efficient surgical environment.
To meet the need for mental-health and substance-use services, the number of treatment beds will increase by 36 to a total of 83, including 11 youth psychiatric-assessment beds, four brief-intervention beds, 36 adult psychiatric beds and 32 withdrawal-management beds.
The tower will be located on the southeast corner of the UHNBC campus on the site of the health unit building between Edmonton and Winnipeg streets. Early work has begun with the start of construction on a 471-space parkade next to the BC Cancer Centre for the North.
“The construction of the patient-care tower is a huge step forward in improving health-care services in the North. The Fraser-Fort George Regional Hospital District is appreciative of the efforts of all parties, including regional hospital-district staff, who worked together to see this project come to fruition and we are excited to see it progress,” said Joan Atkinson, board chair of the Fraser-Fort George Regional Hospital District.
The next stage in the building of the patient-care tower is the procurement process. Construction is expected to begin in fall 2026 and be completed in summer 2031.
This expansion of the UHNBC is being supported by a significant contribution from the Fraser-Fort George Regional Hospital District.
Source: Province of BC and Business Examiner Staff
