Richmond North Centre Liberal MLA Teresa Wat, who had been widely criticized and questioned before — for delaying the construction of a Richmond Hospital tower when her BC Liberal government was in power — is now doing and asking the same of the NDP.
“The Budget contains vague mentions of upgrades to hospitals, but there was no firm commitment for the new acute care tower at Richmond Hospital that the community has been rallying so hard for,” said Wat on her website.
“Last fall in his Estimates debate, the Minister of Health promised to move expeditiously on this project—but so far, we’ve seen no evidence of that,” she added.
Meanwhile, a seemingly un-phased Natalie Meixner, CEO of the Richmond Hospital Foundation, told the Richmond News earlier this month that she remains optimistic the nearly year-old BC NDP government will soon commit to a new acute care tower.
This, despite the NDP government failing to even approve the first stage of the project — a concept plan, which has been completed by Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH). As such, without the second stage, a business plan, complete, Richmond Hospital did not fit in the new provincial budget on Feb. 20.
“We’re not drawing any conclusions from the budget,” said Meixner.
Nevertheless, Wat told the News in late February she remains optimistic because of a statement Premier John Horgan made to media recently.
Meixner is also pinning hope on Horgan’s statement.
“We will have announcements for Richmond on a range of issues,” in the coming months, Horgan told reporters.
“It is certainly my hope that this is not yet another broken promise,” said Wat.
Time is of the essence, according to Wat, who points to the fact about half of the $27 million raised by the foundation, to contribute to the government for the tower, is contingent on a 2020 construction start date.
Last spring Wat announced the concept plan was completed by VCH. While the NDP promised to fast-track the tower’s business plan, the concept plan hasn’t even been approved yet, according to a VCH spokesperson.
Once approved, a business plan can then be developed. This takes 12-18 months, according to VCH. It must be completed and approved before the tower can be included in a budget.
For such a project, pegged at $283 million, it can take upwards of seven years to go from concept plan to construction completion.
On March 9 during a budget debate, Wat reminded the Speaker of “the strong community support for replacing this ageing but crucial building.”
The tower in question would likely collapse or face serious structural damage in the event of a moderate earthquake, according to a VCH report in 2011.
Wat noted the efforts of the foundation as well as vocal support from the Richmond Chamber of Commerce and Richmond First councillors.
She did not note that even the local NDP municipal faction, Richmond Citizens’ Association has petitioned government to expedite the tower.
