Surrey mayoral candidate Doug McCallum proposes a new hospital

Surrey mayoral candidate Doug McCallum says that, if elected, he would build a new full-service hospital on City-owned land at 6965 King George Boulevard in Newton. The City of Surrey bought the site in October 2020.

McCallum’s Safe Surrey Coalition says it would fast-track the application and issue all City permits within 60 days before seeking construction funding from the provincial and federal governments. McCallum said the proposed Surrey General Hospital would provide emergency, acute and inpatient care, operating rooms, intensive care, maternity and newborn care, diagnostic imaging, and dedicated pediatric care.

In its release, the party said Vancouver and Surrey each have populations of roughly 730,000, while Vancouver has six hospitals and Surrey has one. It said Fraser Health has no pediatric intensive care unit and that 900 to 1,000 critically ill children are transferred annually from Surrey to BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. The release also said Surrey Memorial Hospital treats 50,000 children annually through a pediatric emergency department designed for 20,000, and delivers 6,000 babies a year despite capacity for 5,000.

The City earlier confirmed sites and lease agreements for two community medical clinics expected to open this fall, although it will not make medical decisions. Healthcare generally falls under provincial jurisdiction. The province is also building Surrey’s second hospital, the new Cloverdale hospital, at a cost of $2.9 billion. Scheduled to open in 2030, it will have 168 beds, a 55-space emergency department, surgical units, outpatient clinics and a BC Cancer Centre facility. A further acute-care tower at Surrey Memorial Hospital is also planned for the longer term.

McCallum, who served as Surrey mayor before losing to Brenda Locke in 2022, is among the major mayoral contenders alongside Locke, Linda Annis and Mike Starchuk. Voting day is Oct. 17.