St. Paul's hospital needs urgent care: report

The group that runs St. Paul's Hospital in downtown Vancouver says the facility itself is in need of urgent care.

The 100-year-old hospital needs as much as $610 million to get its buildings into shape, according to a report by Providence Healthcare.

Old and inadequate wiring, chronic elevator breakdowns and structural instability are just a few of the problems plaguing the hospital, the report said.

It said there are about 40 breakdowns a month among the facility's 25 elevators.

Leaky roofs are another major concern, according to nurse Colette Wickstrom, who has worked at St. Paul's for more than 20 years.

Not up to code

"When it leaks, if it comes down in a torrent, like in a corridor, then everybody, all the patients in that vicinity have to be moved somewhere else," Wickstrom said.

There are also questions about how the buildings would withstand an earthquake, said Neil McConnell, one of the people who prepared the report.

"These older buildings are at 20 per cent of the current seismic code," McConnell said. "They also have electrical and mechanical problems that we need to solve."

The oldest buildings in the complex should be torn down and rebuilt, the report said.

The provincial government, which asked for the report to be prepared, will meet with Providence Healthcare in March to discuss the recommendations, said McConnell.