Ground broken on B.C. Children’s Hospital complex care centre
Posted April 25, 2025 4:49 pm.
Construction is now underway for a dedicated facility for children with complex care needs in B.C. and Yukon.
Provincial ministers Josie Osborne, Bowinn Ma, and Adrian Dix were present Friday, breaking ground on the new three-storey centre at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver.
The centre will offer both in-person and virtual care, and there will be 16 dedicated suites for children and families to reside in for short stays to access services.
“The centre will provide patients with a better care experience by connecting them all with the services that they need through a central care team. It will support families and caregivers as they navigate complex care and diagnoses, save families travel time with streamlined care, and support health-care professionals with innovative training to better serve their patients,” Ma explained.
Osborne says the centre won’t stop at just supporting the child with complex care needs.
“It extends to the parents and the siblings and the caregivers who carry so much with this centre; we’re saying to those families that you are not alone. We see you, and we stand with you,” said the minister of health.
Ani Khoudian, a member of the patient and caregiver advisory committee for the new centre and mother of a 19-year-old son with complex needs, says the new building is what the province and territory have always needed.
“19 years ago, a centre like this would have been invaluable for my family and I to support and care for our son at home with the opportunity to spend longer training on home care procedures, access to counselling, and peer supports to help navigate what was required,” said Khoudian.
“My son has aged out and has entered the adult world. However, there will be more kids like Anthony born, and there will be more families like us. This centre is designed to support them.”
The facility will also include an Indigenous healing garden, green space, a teaching kitchen, public art, and an accessible wellness path, as well as a 74-space child care facility in its own building managed by a licensed child care operator.
Construction is expected to be completed by December 2027, with the centre scheduled to open in early 2028.
