A goal to raise $10 million for a new 200-bed residential care facility in South Surrey has been reached, officials announced Wednesday.
The facility is under construction at 156 Street and 17 Avenue, on land owned by Peace Arch Hospital Foundation, and includes the 15-bed George & Sylvia Melville Hospice Home. The campaign to fund it launched in 2016, followed by a groundbreaking event in August of 2017.
READ MORE: VIDEO: Groundbreaking heralds new PAH project
In a news release Wednesday morning, Peace Arch Hospital Foundation executive director Stephanie Beck said hitting the $10-million mark was a recognition by the community of the “critical need for more residential care and hospice beds to treat our elderly and vulnerable patients.”
“We are overwhelmed with gratitude for the generosity of our donors whose contributions, big and small, helped us reach our funding goal.”
Lead donors include George & Sylvia Melville, who gave $1 million, Vern & Helga Höing ($600,000) and an anonymous donor who made a gift of $500,000 to the facility’s mental-health unit.
The new building is anticipated to open next fall, with a total of 185 complex-care beds for patients in need of a structured environment and 24-hour medical support.
Fraser Health is to lease the facility from PAHF and provide the medical services to patients. This innovative funding model is the first of its kind in B.C., the release notes.
The new facility is part of Peace Arch Hospital’s current $110-million site-redevelopment plan that also includes a new emergency department, five new operating suites and a brand new medical device reprocessing unit.