Hospital congestion and the need for seniors' care are among the big health-care challenges in Surrey, according to a presentation at a Fraser Health board meeting this week.
The health authority holds public board meetings three times a year in various locations throughout the region. Wednesday's (Feb. 26) meeting was held in Fraser Health's corporate office in Whalley (13450 102 Ave.), with a presentation about the "future of health care in Surrey."
The presentation addressed seven current health-care challenges in Surrey, including hospital congestion, the need for senior care and the need for more access to community health services and specialists.
Fraser Health is currently taking actions to address the challenges, including building a new Surrey hospital in Cloverdale set to open to the public in 2030, planning for the second acute tower at Surrey Memorial Hospital, and plans for a mental health and substance use hub.
The second acute tower will increase the level of service for trauma care, provide space for a dedicated pediatric emergency and pediatric surgery, and provide a higher tier of service for maternity and women's healt hcare, the presentation notes. There will also be additional space for inpatient beds.
In addition, the health authority plans to add new tertiary services, such as gynecologic oncology, neuro-spinal surgery, and cardiac surgery.
The health authority is taking what it describes as a four-pronged approach to transforming health care in Surrey. This includes acute care, outpatient services, virtual innovations and community health services.
Each prong focused on the numerous challenges it faces and the actions currently underway to address them.
For instance, in acute care, they are facing a demand for surgery and a need for technological advancement. The plan to address this includes renovating all of the operating rooms and having one operating room for robotics.
Construction is also underway for the renal facility and two cardiac catheterization laboratories.
In outpatient services, many specialty clinics have been added or expended at the Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre. This includes a pain clinic, neurology/neuro-diagnostics, internal medicine, maternal fetal medicine, tertiary perinatal services and a neonatal followup clinic.
In community health services, the health authority is building the Guru Nanak Diversity Village, set to open in 2026, that will add 125 long term care beds.
Lastly, for virtual innovations, Fraser Health has expanded its virtual psychiatric unit, virtual psychiatric consultation and virtual group therapy to meet the challenge of the growing demand for mental health services.
Many of the action items are part of “30 promised health-care actions” former minister of health Adrian Dix announced in June 2023.
To read more about the challenges and actions underway visit fraserhealth.ca/BoardMeeting. You can see the full list of 30 priority actions at the Fraser Health website.
