Royal Columbian Hospital
Encyclopedia
The Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) is the oldest hospital in the Canadian province
of British Columbia
and one of the busiest in the Fraser Health Authority
. RCH is located in the city of New Westminster overlooking the Fraser River
and is the only hospital in the Lower Mainland
that is immediately adjacent to a Skytrain
station (Sapperton
).
care, neurosurgery
and open-heart surgery
. The hospital has the only program capable of performing cardiac surgery for expectant women in the Province of British Columbia. RCH performs 95 per cent of the primary angioplasties
or percutaneous coronary intervention
s (PCI) for the region and has demonstrated healthy outcomes for patients transferred back to their referring hospital.
The hospital has 402 acute care
beds and has a medical staff of approximately 385 physicians, divided between family physicians (150) and specialists (235). Many of the physicians also practice at Eagle Ridge Hospital
in nearby Coquitlam. RCH has a helipad
that receives air ambulance
s operated by the BC Ambulance Service
. RCH offers free Wi-Fi
through a FatPort hotspot near the main entrance.
of the 1850s and 1860s.
The first Royal Columbian Hospital, designed for thirty patients and located on the corner of Clement (now 4th Street) and Agnes Street was opened on October 7, 1862 to care for men only. Women, children, and "the incurable and the insane" were excluded from care. The Royal Engineers
planned and helped build the hospital, the first in the colony
. The cost was $3,396. A chain gang
from the penitentiary helped clear the site.
RCH moved to its current location in the Sapperton
area of New Westminster in 1889.. An early physician and surgeon connected with the hospital at this location was Richard Irvine Bentley
.
between 1901 and 1978 in the Sherbrooke building. It now accommodates administration and mental health
clinical services. RCH is a Clinical Academic Campus affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of the University of British Columbia
, the first in the Fraser Health region.
.
Provinces and territories of Canada
The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second-largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories...
of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
and one of the busiest in the Fraser Health Authority
Fraser Health
Fraser Health is one of six publicly funded health care Regions into which the Canadian province of British Columbia is divided. It has 22,000 employees and serves the region from Boston Bar in the Fraser Canyon all the way down the Fraser River Valley to the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby...
. RCH is located in the city of New Westminster overlooking the Fraser River
Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
and is the only hospital in the Lower Mainland
Lower Mainland
The Lower Mainland is a name commonly applied to the region surrounding and including Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. As of 2007, 2,524,113 people live in the region; sixteen of the province's thirty most populous municipalities are located there.While the term Lower Mainland has been...
that is immediately adjacent to a Skytrain
SkyTrain (Vancouver)
SkyTrain is a light rapid transit system in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. SkyTrain has of track and uses fully automated trains on grade-separated tracks, running mostly on elevated guideways, which helps SkyTrain to hold consistently high on-time reliability...
station (Sapperton
Sapperton Station
Sapperton Station is located on an elevated portion of the Millennium Line, a part of Metro Vancouver's SkyTrain rapid transit system. The station itself is located in eastern New Westminster...
).
Overview
Royal Columbian Hospital is a major tertiary care facility known for traumaTrauma center
A trauma center is a hospital equipped to provide comprehensive emergency medical services to patients suffering traumatic injuries. Trauma centers grew into existence out of the realization that traumatic injury is a disease process unto itself requiring specialized and experienced...
care, neurosurgery
Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spine, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system.-In the United States:In...
and open-heart surgery
Cardiac surgery
Cardiovascular surgery is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. Frequently, it is done to treat complications of ischemic heart disease , correct congenital heart disease, or treat valvular heart disease from various causes including endocarditis, rheumatic heart...
. The hospital has the only program capable of performing cardiac surgery for expectant women in the Province of British Columbia. RCH performs 95 per cent of the primary angioplasties
Angioplasty
Angioplasty is the technique of mechanically widening a narrowed or obstructed blood vessel, the latter typically being a result of atherosclerosis. An empty and collapsed balloon on a guide wire, known as a balloon catheter, is passed into the narrowed locations and then inflated to a fixed size...
or percutaneous coronary intervention
Percutaneous coronary intervention
Percutaneous coronary intervention , commonly known as coronary angioplasty or simply angioplasty, is one therapeutic procedure used to treat the stenotic coronary arteries of the heart found in coronary heart disease. These stenotic segments are due to the build up of cholesterol-laden plaques...
s (PCI) for the region and has demonstrated healthy outcomes for patients transferred back to their referring hospital.
The hospital has 402 acute care
Acute care
Acute care is a branch of secondary health care where a patient receives active but short-term treatment for a severe injury or episode of illness, an urgent medical condition, or during recovery from surgery...
beds and has a medical staff of approximately 385 physicians, divided between family physicians (150) and specialists (235). Many of the physicians also practice at Eagle Ridge Hospital
Eagle Ridge Hospital
Eagle Ridge Hospital is a medical facility located in Port Moody, British Columbia, on the Port Moody/Coquitlam border. ERH is one of 12 hospitals under the jurisdiction of Fraser Health, which services more than 1.3 million people....
in nearby Coquitlam. RCH has a helipad
Helipad
Helipad is a common abbreviation for helicopter landing pad, a landing area for helicopters. While helicopters are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabricated helipad provides a clearly marked hard surface away from obstacles where a helicopter can safely...
that receives air ambulance
Air ambulance
An air ambulance is an aircraft used for emergency medical assistance in situations where either a traditional ambulance cannot reach the scene easily or quickly enough, or the patient needs to be transported over a distance or terrain that makes air transportation the most practical transport....
s operated by the BC Ambulance Service
British Columbia Ambulance Service
The British Columbia Ambulance Service is the sole ambulance service and provider of pre-hospital emergency care in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It operates under the Emergency and Health Services Commission and the Provincial Health Services Authority, and is tasked with the...
. RCH offers free Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
through a FatPort hotspot near the main entrance.
History
The need for a hospital to care for the sick and injured became a public concern during the population growth caused by the gold rushesBritish Columbia Gold Rushes
The presence of gold in the region that is now British Columbia is mentioned in old legends that, in part, led to its discovery. The Strait of Anian, claimed to have been sailed by Juan de Fuca for whom today's Strait of Juan de Fuca is named, was described as passing through a land "rich in gold,...
of the 1850s and 1860s.
The first Royal Columbian Hospital, designed for thirty patients and located on the corner of Clement (now 4th Street) and Agnes Street was opened on October 7, 1862 to care for men only. Women, children, and "the incurable and the insane" were excluded from care. The Royal Engineers
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
planned and helped build the hospital, the first in the colony
Colony of British Columbia
The Colony of British Columbia was a crown colony in British North America from 1858 until 1866. At its creation, it physically constituted approximately half the present day Canadian province of British Columbia, since it did not include the Colony of Vancouver Island, the vast and still largely...
. The cost was $3,396. A chain gang
Chain gang
A chain gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work, such as mining or timber collecting, as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include building roads, digging ditches or chipping stone...
from the penitentiary helped clear the site.
RCH moved to its current location in the Sapperton
Sapperton, New Westminster
Sapperton is a neighbourhood of the City of New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada, located in the northeastern end of that city and up to its boundaries with the City of Coquitlam and City of Burnaby...
area of New Westminster in 1889.. An early physician and surgeon connected with the hospital at this location was Richard Irvine Bentley
Richard Irvine Bentley
Richard Irvine Bentley was the superintendent to the British Columbia provincial Asylum for the Insane and medical officer to the New Westminster Gaol. He was also surgeon of the Royal Columbian Hospital.-References:*...
.
Academic affiliations
RCH housed a nursing schoolNursing school
A nursing school is a type of educational institution, or part thereof, providing education and training to become a fully qualified nurse. The nature of nursing education and nursing qualifications varies considerably across the world.-United Kingdom:...
between 1901 and 1978 in the Sherbrooke building. It now accommodates administration and mental health
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
clinical services. RCH is a Clinical Academic Campus affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
, the first in the Fraser Health region.
Future expansion
Fraser Health, the health authority that operates RCH, is working on plans to redevelop and expand the hospital to address aging infrastructure and a congested emergency departmentEmergency department
An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
.