Housing is Healthcare

Hundreds travel to Vancouver

per day

for medical care.

Where do they stay?

BC CENTRALIZES HEALTHCARE IN VANCOUVER BUT IGNORES THE HOUSING COMPONENT FOR NON-VANCOUVER RESIDENTS.

The cost of hotel accommodation in Vancouver is too high for out-of-town patients and there currently is no other short-term patient housing option.

This leads to anxiety, debt, GoFundMes, forgoing care altogether and early end of life. This weighs on community ER rooms, tolls the system, and does not create a StrongerBC. It represents neglect and inequity within our healthcare and does not uphold the Canada Health Act.

Organ transplantation is a prime example as we call on our communities to selflessly donate diseased organs but do not distribute them fairly. Transplants only occur in Vancouver and require a 3-month mandatory relocation for those from outside of the Lower Mainland, resulting in out-of-pocket costs of an average $18,500 - Dr. Jude Kornelsen, UBC Centre for Rural Health Research.

Where should they stay?

HOTEL OF HOPE

LEASE -TO-HEAL MODEL

Rather than building a facility upfront, we will partner with a developer on a hotel or mixed-use project close to the hospital to include patient extended stays within a set of floors or designated shell, preferably with a private entrance and offered at an extremely affordable rate to the patient.

Lower upfront capital requirements
Faster time to implementation
Ability to scale over time across the province

This hybrid hotel model features designs specific to recovery.

Potential elements could include:
Infection-controlled environments
Housekeeping and services aligned with immunocompromised needs
Flexible stay durations (from days to weeks to several months)
Communal area for companionship
Private kitchen for dietary needs

Purpose built, affordable, close.

Partners needed to make this build possible include:

BC Transplant

PHSA

St. Paul's

MOH

VCH

VGH+

City of Vancouver

developer
partnership

Municipalities

other health
authorities