The new St. Paul’s Hospital on the Jim Pattison Medical Campus will reshape BC’s health care landscape and leave a lasting mark on the province – an impact that’s already being felt.
From the excavation of 150 Olympic-sized pools of material to 13-hour concrete pours, the scope and scale of building the new hospital are HUGE.
“When we had some major seismic concrete pours, we basically seconded the entire road system in the Lower Mainland,” says Bruce Norman, project director with PCL Construction, the hospital’s design-build partner. “For our main seismic footing, we had 340 trucks cycle through the site and it took us 13 hours to pour. You won’t see that scale of construction everyday so that’s been pretty unique.”
Coordinating an event of this scale required detailed planning which has been a hallmark of the project. From transporting large construction cranes to scheduling hundreds of workers, figuring out logistics is key in keeping momentum going on site.
“This is the largest project that I’ve ever been involved in,” says Kevin Little, senior manager of design and project delivery with the New St. Paul’s Hospital Project Team. “Just the scale and the logistics of it is really incredible. Everything that goes into what we do here every day is so well coordinated.”
Norman says the team’s diligence in acquiring the goods and services needed, and supply chain management, has been crucial to the project’s success to date. “When we buy a widget, we don’t just buy one; we buy thousands and thousands of them. So knowing our supply chain, the amount we need and how long it takes to get things is one of the biggest challenges for a job of this magnitude.”
‘A lasting legacy on the local workforce’
A project of this size needs a workforce to match. Currently, up to 400 tradespeople work on the hospital at any given time with that number expected to quadruple as the project progresses.
By the time construction is completed in 2026, PCL estimates that more than 10,000 tradespeople would have worked on the hospital at one time or another.
“We’ll have thousands of workers funneling through the door by the time the project is over so the project will leave a lasting legacy on the local workforce,” says Darrin Joss, PCL’s general superintendent for the New St. Paul’s Hospital Project. “The impact it has on the local workforce, apprenticeship in all trades, development of supervision, and development of management is really impactful for the whole city and the entire Lower Mainland.”
Like many industries, recruitment has been a challenge on the project due to the sheer number of people needed on site. But once hired, PCL points out the passion and engagement of those working on this project has been astounding.
“Many of the workers were born at St. Paul’s Hospital, have family members saved by staff at the hospital or have family members who work there,” says Norman. “The passion we see in the actual workers themselves and what they’re building is much different than building a bridge or some other type of infrastructure – because this is personal and passionate.”
Watch the video on what it takes to build BC’s largest ever hospital redevelopment project.
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Walking into our future: new St. Paul’s Hospital mock rooms
‘Embraced by nature’: BC landmarks inspire interior design of new St. Paul’s Hospital
Story by: Justine Ma, New St. Paul’s Hospital Project
