The BC NDP and BC Liberals traded barbs Thursday over a planned new hospital in Cloverdale as the South Surrey byelection heats up.<\/p>\n
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix appeared with NDP candidate Pauline Greaves to tout the new $1.72-billion facility, slated for 180 Street next to Kwantlen Polytechnic University.<\/p>\n
Last month, the NDP government unveiled details about the hospital, which will include 168 beds, a 55-space emergency room and a cancer centre.<\/p>\n
Dix called the facility critical to the rapidly growing city on track to be B.C.s largest by the middle of the next decade.<\/p>\n
And he accused the BC Liberals of taking steps during their last term in power to derail the project.<\/p>\n
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The NDP in a previous iteration bought the land. The Liberal Party promised a hospital, Dix said.<\/p>\n
(BC Liberal Leader) Kevin Falcon was an MLA here, he promised a hospital in the 2005 election, and he broke his word. And he didnt just break his word, he sold the land.<\/p>\n
The parcel of land proposed for a previous iteration of the hospital was among many the former BC Liberal government sold for just under $500 million between 2013 and 2015.<\/p>\n
The Liberals, however, are accusing the NDP of failing on their own hospital pledge by building what they describe as a glorified urgent care centre.<\/p>\n
The NDP promised Surrey voters a full-servicehospital, but all theyre getting is a glorified urgent care centre with just 168 beds, no ICU, and no maternity ward in Cloverdale, Falcon said in a statement Thrusday.<\/p>\n
Were committed to getting things done in Surrey, and residents can expect a BC Liberal government to deliver a full-servicehospitalto meet the vital needs of their community, not just the NDPs glorified clinic.<\/p>\n
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Health care is shaping up to be a key issue in the byelection, as the province grapples with a family doctor shortage, emergency room closures in small and rural communities and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week BC Liberal South Surrey candidate Elenore Sturko and Green Party candidate Simran Sarai slammed the government over long ambulance wait times, after a Surrey senior was left waiting 10 hours for an ambulance with a broken hip.<\/p>\n
Construction of the new Surrey hospital is slated to begin next summer, with a completion target of 2027.<\/p>\n
South Surrey voters go to the polls on Sept. 10.<\/p>\n
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BC NDP, Liberals trade byelection barbs over new Surrey hospital - Global News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The BC NDP and BC Liberals traded barbs Thursday over a planned new hospital in Cloverdale as the South Surrey byelection heats up. B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix appeared with NDP candidate Pauline Greaves to tout the new $1.72-billion facility, slated for 180 Street next to Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Continue reading