The Province of British Columbia opened the new Jim Pattison Acute Care Tower at Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster on May 22, 2026, bringing quicker access to specialized, life-saving treatment for people across the Lower Mainland and as far away as Vancouver Island communities like Colwood.
The 10-storey, 388-bed tower will begin accepting patients on May 31, starting with a bigger emergency department, medical-surgical inpatient units, intensive care, and cardiac units, plus satellite medical imaging. By this fall, it will also open new operating rooms, maternity, and newborn services. Once the new tower opens, Royal Columbian Hospital will be the only one in B.C. with expanded trauma, cardiac care, neurosurgery, high-risk obstetrics, neonatal intensive care, and acute mental health care all on one site.
The tower is part of a multi-year redevelopment of the province’s oldest hospital. Phases 2 and 3 are expected to cost nearly $2 billion, with contributions from the Province, Fraser Health, and the Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation. The name honours businessman and philanthropist Jim Pattison, whose $30-million donation to the project was the largest in Fraser Health history.
Royal Columbian Hospital is the main referral centre for the Fraser Health region, serving 1.6 million people from Burnaby to Hope and also taking patients from outside the area, including Vancouver Island. That means the shorter waits and added capacity will help residents of Colwood and other communities who need advanced trauma, heart, or brain surgery.
The first wave of openings includes a new emergency room with 75 treatment spaces and satellite medical imaging to cut down travel times inside the hospital, plus a 47-bed ICU that has a dedicated smudging room for Indigenous families and a 17-bed cardiac ICU. The building is also designed to meet LEED Gold standards for energy and environmental performance.
