Remarks made by Dr. Jeff Pike, Physician Lead, Clinical Planning, St. Paul’s Redevelopment, at the BC Government’s announcement of business plan approval for redevelopment – February 15, 2019
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It is an honour to speak today, thank you Premier Horgan and Minister Dix.
It has been a great privilege to connect with patients, families, and those of us who care for them to develop our early design for the new St. Paul’s.
The nature of health care is deeply personal and inherently emotional.
The stories shared with us have been humbling and inspiring, both through relationships with our own patients, and experiences recounted to us through gatherings in the community and in our homes.
We have been able to share in the success where we have delivered outstanding services, and the disappointment when we have struggled with access to care. Those stories have pushed us every day in this project.
And so, it has been designing with patients and families at the centre that has led us to this moment today.
St. Paul’s has always had exceptionally close ties to the people who make up our community. We remain committed to the medical needs of all British Columbians, whether they live right here in Vancouver, Haida Gwaii, or Valemount.
We are focused on outcomes and experience that matter to our patients, particularly our vulnerable patients here locally and the provincial populations that rely on our specialized services.
The new St. Paul’s will improve capacity, expand care coordination, and support dynamic health services that continually renew in response to the evolving needs of the populations we serve.
Research will be closely integrated with every aspect of clinical care, so that we embrace every opportunity to learn and improve.
In planning the new St. Paul’s, we are taking full advantage of the opportunity to begin from a blank canvas at the Station St site in several ways:
- By pushing our imagination and blending innovative patient care solutions from around the world – to build space that promotes wellness for patients, families, and providers alike.
- By creating a facility specifically designed for collaboration across our diverse citizens– and flexible enough to manage changing demand in the future.
- By cultivating partnerships that will bring greater value to our patients- through health organizations, private and public enterprise, and academic networks that jointly aim to address the determinants of health
Innovation is about creating new tools and processes that get adopted because they make our lives better. Both digital health and artificial intelligence will hugely impact how we care for patients in the future. The possibilities are endless.
We will be exploring tools such as self-care apps that remind us when to take medications or perform some part of our treatment plans, technology that encourages self-scheduling for appointments (including coordinating multiple and virtual appointments), data analytics that reduce administrative burden for providers (freeing time for direct patient care), AI tools that will speed up the referral process.
Handled thoughtfully, technology will improve equity for health services across our province.
At the heart of why we are here is to strengthen the stories of our patients and the lives they want to lead. To provide a health system that understands who they are and what they need- and partner with them in creating this future.
We are starting the next phase of planning today- continuing to learn from our patients and our colleagues to deliver on this commitment to British Columbians.
Thank you.