Partnerships

Phase 1 of the Surrey Memorial Hospital expansion will be carried out as a Public Private Partnership (PPP). As part of the province’s capital standard policy, where the province contributes $50 million or more, the public private partnership model is considered as the base case unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwise.

The decision to use the partnership model is based on a rigorous analysis of procurement options to determine which approach makes sense. For example, the opportunity to transfer risk to the private sector for items such as construction budget and schedule and the ability to lever efficiencies and innovation.

Partnerships BC was retained by Fraser Health to undertake a procurement options analysis for the SMH project. Following that analysis, a recommendation was made to the Province that the partnership delivery model would offer best value for taxpayers’ dollars and deliver this project on time and on budget.

The Province approved the SMH project and the partnership delivery model in December 2008. Phase 1 of the SMH expansion will be the largest health care PPP to date in B.C.

Successful public private partnerships

Public private partnerships in B.C. are not new, and there are many examples of how these partnerships have resulted in innovative solutions to improve the delivery of patient care.

Examples of successful partnerships include: 

• Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre: opened for patients on August 24, 2008 and was completed on time and on budget – an unprecedented achievement for a health care project of this size and complexity. 
• Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre in Vancouver: completed on time, on budget and opened for patients in August 2006.
• Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surrey Centre: construction began in September 2008 and the facility is scheduled to open for patients June 1, 2011.
• Royal Jubilee Hospital Patient Care Centre: construction began in July 2008 and the facility is scheduled to open for patients in 2011.
• Kelowna and Vernon Hospitals: construction began on these facilities in November 2008. The Kelowna patient care tower is scheduled to be complete by August 2012 and the Vernon patient care tower is scheduled to be complete by May 2011.

Learn more

For further information on PPPs visit the Partnership BC website.