Three weeks after a downtown Vancouver urgent primary care centre opened in leased space last year, an architectural firm hired by the building owners filed a rezoning application that could lead to the building being torn down.
The taxpayer-funded centre at 1290 Hornby St., near St. Paul’s Hospital, is on notice that it may have to move if the rezoning proposal succeeds.
“If the rezoning is approved and the proposed building proceeds to redevelopment, the existing commercial tenancies will have to come to an end,” said Neal Wells, a spokesman for the City of Vancouver.
The primary care centre opened in November last year, after Vancouver Coastal Health spent $2 million to renovate the space, according to documents obtained under a freedom of information request. The centre has an annual operating budget of $3.72 million. Wells said the rezoning application, filed on Dec. 13, 2018, is expected to go before city council next year.
Urgent care centres are a major priority for Health Minister Adrian Dix. He has said the purpose of such clinics is to provide individuals with faster access to non-emergency care and to reduce demand on hospital emergency departments.
Carrie Stefanson, a spokeswoman for Coastal Health, said no one at the health authority was aware that a development application would be filed when the space was renovated, “but we were certainly aware the site was a candidate for potential redevelopment. It’s a low-rise building in a sea of highrises and everything around it is being redeveloped.”
Coastal Health had a five-year lease on the site — it was formerly occupied by the Three Bridges Community Health Centre, which moved along the street — so it made sense to continue using the same facility, Stefanson said.
The health authority’s lease ends in 2021 and it is trying to negotiate another five-year lease on the site, she said. This, despite the rezoning proposal to build a 35-storey residential tower with an art gallery.
An officer of the company that owns the property and who is familiar with the development could not be reached.
Dr. Afshin Khazei, medical director of the downtown centre, said he would be “shocked” if it has to move but he is not privy to any information about the development and “there’s been no talk of moving.” Khazei said 15,000 patients have been treated at the downtown clinic since it opened a year ago, just under half the maximum capacity. However, the volume is steadily rising as more people become aware they can go to the urgent care centre instead of hospital emergency departments.
The government has announced 14 urgent care centres across the province and plans to spend $150 million over three years on them.
They are intended to provide treatment for illnesses or injuries that should be addressed within 12 to 24 hours. Broken bones, infections, fevers, sprains, and cuts requiring stitches are typical cases.
