The new building will be located on the southeast corner of the current Lions Gate Hospital campus. The new four-storey facility will feature space for the University of British Columbia faculty of medicine and a new ambulance station for BC Ambulance Service. The 26-bed facility, which replaces the current Activation building, will provide state-of-the-art mental health and addictions services in a purpose-built facility, designed with psychiatric patients in mind.
The project will see the replacement of current multi-bed rooms with single bedrooms and washrooms, to provide increased patient privacy, allow for greater infection control, reduce patient transfers and allow for appropriate patient management.
The mental health building will also include a dedicated teaching space for the UBC faculty of medicine affiliated regional centre, to increase educational opportunities for medical school students and residents; and a dedicated, nine-bay permanent home for BC Ambulance Service in North Vancouver.
The new Lions Gate Hospital facility will also provide space for various community mental health and substance use services, currently dispersed in locations around the community, providing one central, convenient and efficient hub for mental health services on the North Shore. The development will also feature parking, and additional shelled-in space for future expansion.
This new building will also provide space for various community mental health and substance use services, currently dispersed in locations around the community, providing one central, convenient and efficient hub for mental health services on the North Shore.
Construction work on the project is expected to commence in mid-2012 and is set to complete by the end of 2013. The new facility will incorporate wood as much as possible, following the province’s “wood first” policy. The facility will be constructed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED ) Gold certification.
The project has secured CAD38.2 million ($40.3 million) in capital funding from the Province, through Vancouver Coastal Health. The Lions Gate Hospital Foundation, the project partner, has committed to raise the remaining CAD24 million ($25.3 million) to complete the mental health treatment facility.
