The political pressure to expedite construction of a new north tower at Richmond Hospital is mounting.
Following a BC NDP announcement Monday to immediately fund a new tower, BC Liberal MLAs sent out a press release Tuesday to re-iterate that a new tower at Richmond Hospital will soon go to a business plan, after the Ministry of Health reviews and accepts the draft concept plan tabled by Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH).
MLAs Teresa Wat, Linda Reid and John Yap posed for photos in front of a design of the tower at a non-media event. The government has said it has already expedited the concept plan, which began last June. The business plan “could begin in fall 2017,” and last up to 18 months.
The BC NDP took issue with the response in its own counter press release. It said the announcement was a “recycled promise” and it reiterated that delays in replacing the seismically-unsafe tower have been too long.
It’s unclear, at this point, how the NDP could expedite the process. The government notes that the Ministry must first review the draft concept before making a business plan. A business plan is followed by procurement and then construction, noted the Ministry in a news release. Construction is expected to take three years, according to VCH.
