Royal Columbian Hospital

Royal Columbian Hospital
Fraser Health
Royal Columbian Hospital in Sapperton location, circa 1903
Location in New Westminster/Vancouver
Geography
Location	330 E. Columbia Street, New Westminster, V3L 3W7, B.C., Canada
Coordinates	49°13′36″N 122°53′31″W / 49.226667°N 122.891944°W / 49.226667; -122.891944Coordinates: 49°13′36″N 122°53′31″W / 49.226667°N 122.891944°W / 49.226667; -122.891944
Organization
Care system	Public Medicare (Canada)
Hospital type	Tertiary
Affiliated university	UBC Faculty of Medicine
Services
Emergency department	Yes
Helipad	TC LID: CNW9
Beds	402
History
Founded	1862
Links
Website	Royal Columbian Hospital
Lists	Hospitals in Canada

The Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) is the oldest hospital in the Canadian province of British Columbia and one of the busiest in the Fraser Health Authority. RCH is located in the city of New Westminster overlooking the Fraser River and is the only hospital in the Lower Mainland that is immediately adjacent to a Skytrain station (Sapperton).

Overview

Royal Columbian Hospital is a major tertiary care facility known for trauma care, neurosurgery and open-heart surgery. The hospital has the only program capable of performing cardiac surgery for expectant women in the Province of British Columbia.^{[citation needed]} RCH performs 95 per cent of the primary angioplasties or percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) for the region and has demonstrated healthy outcomes for patients transferred back to their referring hospital.^[1]

The hospital has 402 acute care beds and has a medical staff of approximately 385 physicians, divided between family physicians (150) and specialists (235).^[2] Many of the physicians also practice at Eagle Ridge Hospital in nearby Port Moody. RCH has a helipad that receives air ambulances operated by the BC Ambulance Service. RCH offers free Wi-Fi through a FatPort hotspot near the main entrance.^[3]

History

The need for a hospital to care for the sick and injured became a public concern during the population growth caused by the gold rushes of the 1850s and 1860s.^{[citation needed]}

The first Royal Columbian Hospital, designed for thirty patients and located on the corner of Clement (now 4th Street) and Agnes Street was opened on October 7, 1862^[4] to care for men only. Women, children, and "the incurable and the insane" were excluded from care. The Royal Engineers planned and helped build the hospital, the first in the colony. The cost was $3,396. A chain gang from the penitentiary helped clear the site.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

RCH moved to its current location in the Sapperton area of New Westminster in 1889.^{[citation needed]}. An early physician and surgeon connected with the hospital at this location was Richard Irvine Bentley.

Academic affiliations

RCH housed a nursing school between 1901 and 1978 in the Sherbrooke building.^{[citation needed]} It now accommodates administration and mental health clinical services.^{[citation needed]} RCH is a Clinical Academic Campus affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of the University of British Columbia, the first in the Fraser Health region.^{[citation needed]}

Future expansion

Fraser Health, the health authority that operates RCH, is working on plans to redevelop and expand the hospital to address aging infrastructure and a congested emergency department.^[10] In June 2012, the provincial government committed to the expansion and renovation of the hospital.^[11]

References

External links

• Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation