Providence Health Care, an agency in the state of British Columbia, Canada has issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) inviting private developers for designing, building and partially financing the new St. Paul’s hospital in Vancouver. The project investment is estimated at USD1.4 billion. 

St. Paul’s Hospital has become renowned acute care, teaching and research hospital, serving more than 174,000 patients annually, who account for over 500,000 visits per year. Recognizing the constraints and issues associated with the current St. Paul’s Hospital site, Providence Health Care acquired an 18.38-acre parcel of land in 2004, referred to as the Station Street site located on the False Creek Flats in Vancouver, and has been planning for the new hospital and health campus since that time. The project has been in limbo for many years and now it is moving forward.

After the RFQ the authority will shortlist up to three teams for the next stage in the contract process. Shortlisted bidders will be issued with RFP document and this stage will decide who will lead the design and construction of the project. The RFQ phase is expected to finalized by fall 2019. The RFP phase which will follow shortly after is expected to last up to a year. The construction will be initiated after that.

The deadline to submit the response to the RFQ is August 16, 2019.

The government of British Columbia approved the business plan for the new St. Paul’s on February 15, 2019. The new St. Paul’s hospital will have the capacity for up to 548 beds, which includes 115 net new beds. The site will house several leading provincial programs and referral centres, including for heart and lung care, renal, eating disorders and specialty surgeries and transplants. The new hospital will also offer general and specialized care, including HIV/AIDS, chronic disease management services, emergency and critical care, mental health and addictions beds and programs, ambulatory services and outpatient clinics, end-of-life care, Indigenous health, maternity, colorectal and gastrointestinal services, and community care and community outreach programs.

Providence Health Care is planning to build other phases on the health campus, including a clinical and research centre connected to the hospital. Future development opportunities include health innovation park with industry partners in the fields of health-care technology, life sciences and biomedical research, with whom clinicians and researchers will collaborate to drive discovery, development and commercialization of new health-care technologies, treatments and processes.