B.C. giving $4.5 million to upgrade children’s hospice facility

VANCOUVER – The British Columbia government has announced $4.5 million in new funding for Canuck Place to renovate and upgrade the Vancouver children’s hospice.

Health Minister Adrian Dix says the funding will go toward structural repairs, enhancing patient care rooms, improving ventilation and making it more accessible.

It will also fund the construction of a new administrative building.

Canuck Place was the first children’s hospice in North America, and Dix says the changes will make a “real and tangible difference” for children, families and health workers.

The minister says construction is expected to be complete by 2025.

Denise Praill, CEO of Canuck Place, says the funding will allow for “much needed” repairs to the facility, which hasn’t been upgraded since it first opened in 1995.

“This investment will improve quality, safety and efficiency in care for over 870 children with life-threatening illnesses and their families from across B.C. and the Yukon,” she said Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2023.