By Fay Harvey
NORTH VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Vancouver Coastal Health’s (VCH) $325 million Paul Myers Tower at Lions Gate Health Hospital officially opened earlier this month.
The six-story tower focuses on acute treatment with an emphasis on family- and patient-focused care. Located on the traditional, unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation), the facility was designed alongside the Host Nations’ respective advisers to create culturally appropriate healthcare spaces for the local indigenous communities. Throughout the tower, homages to the Vancouver region and First Nations people are evident in the design, paired with cutting-edge technology for advanced care.
“The Paul Myers Tower’s patient-centered design will improve the care experience for patients and their families and will help both present and future needs of a growing and aging population,” said Penny Ballem, chair of the board at Vancouver Coastal Health, said in a statement. “We are grateful for the collaboration with host Nations, patients and community organizations as well as our dedicated staff and medical staff in co-creating a site that will transform the future of health care in our region and beyond.”
The tower offers 108 new private patient rooms with ensuite washrooms, 39 pre- and post-operative care areas and eight state-of-the-art operating rooms (ORs). Designed for efficiency, the spacious ORs offer extra room for surgical tasks and new equipment. An airborne isolation operating room beside two airborne isolation post-operative recovery bays are located in the surgical center and were designed based on Covid-19 protocols. Copper-coated high-touch surfaces and deep well sinks also help mitigate the spread of infection and disease.
Innovative technologies throughout the tower further improve the patient experience and streamline staff duties. For example, an upgraded nurse calling system is built into all rooms. Using newly implemented smartbadges, staff can respond to calls and make voice commands to enhance patient-staff communication. Display panels located inside and outside patient rooms provide essential information to staff and visitors, and a new continuous vital-monitoring and charting system keeps clinicians aware of patients’ health status. At exits, stairwells, inpatient units, elevators and basement, a patient-tracking walkout alarm system will notify staff when and where a patient tag is detected exiting the facility, while a suite of capacity-management computer programs and apps will aid staff with placement and transportation of residents.
“It’s terrific news for people living on the North Shore and area that the new patient care tower at Lions Gate Hospital is opening to meet the needs, comfort and well-being of people receiving care,” said Josie Osborne, British Columbia minister of health, in a statement. “By investing in state-of-the-art facilities around B.C., including the new Paul Myers Tower, we are truly investing in better health outcomes for British Columbians. This is part of our commitment to strengthen B.C.’s public health-care system.”
Throughout the planning process, VCH worked closely with Host Nations to assure culture, stories and languages were reflected in the new space. Inside, a sacred space open to all patients features ventilation for smudging, acoustic-friendly walls for drumming and singing, dimmable lights and a tea station. A House of Elders offers Indigenous patients and families space to connect, while a rooftop garden overlooking the North Shore Mountains displays Host Nations’ stories and landscaping that includes spotlighting culturally significant plants.
Horizontal wood slats were placed on the interior and exterior as a reference to the traditional design of the ancestral territories, while cedar slats found on the fourth and sixth floors are derived from the original cedar trees cut down during land preparation for construction. Elements of the Host Nation stories—mineral, marine, shell, medicine, feather, forest and mountain—are thematically represented in each floor of the tower forming a consistent, immersive narrative. Indigenous artwork, including carvings, paintings, photographs and weavings are on each floor and align with designated themes.
Signage throughout the tower includes English, Farsi and Traditional Chinese—the three most common languages spoken in Vancouver’s North Shore coastal community—while braille and Host Nations languages are found in locations of cultural significance, such as the House of Elders. Doors feature both hand and foot automatic door open buttons, and wheelchair spaces are placed beside benches and tables on the facility’s rooftop garden.
“Through close collaboration with both the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and səlilwətaɬ Nations, Vancouver Coastal Health was able to create a modern space that still reflects our values, traditions and cultures,” said Sxwixwtn, Wilson Williams, spokesperson and council member, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw, in a statement. “From the façade resembling our Long Houses, to our stories and languages reflected throughout the interior and healing spaces, Paul Myers Tower is a thoughtful example of what can be accomplished when working meaningfully with First Nations to create a state-of-the-art medical facility that will benefit everyone across the North Shore community.”
The project team included construction services from Edmonton, Alberta-based PCL Construction and Kanata, Ontario-based Modern Niagra, with design expertise from global firm HDR and acoustic work from Burnaby, British Columbia-based BKL Consultants Ltd.
