Surrey Memorial Hospital (SMH) is a publicly funded

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergen ...

owned and operated by Fraser Health in the city of

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

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adjacent to

King George Boulevard King George Boulevard (formerly known as King George Highway) is a major arterial road in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. The route begins at Highway 99, north of the Peace Arch Border Crossing with the United States, and runs generally nort ...

Overview

Surrey Memorial Hospital began operations in early 1959, with its official opening being on 31 January. It is one of twelve hospitals under the jurisdiction of the Fraser Health Authority, which provides health services to more than 1.8 million people. Surrey Memorial is the second largest hospital in British Columbia and has the busiest emergency department. As of 2019, SMH provides service to over 158,558

emergency department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pati ...

patients per year, making it the second busiest in Canada. The hospital offers general medical services, as well as a dedicated pediatrics emergency area, a regional referral centre for specialized pediatrics and maternity care, hospice, and two extended care units. SMH specializes in cancer and renal care, kidney dialysis, and sleep disorders. In addition, there are Adolescent and Adult Psychiatry Inpatient Units. Surrey Memorial Hospital along with the nearby Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre perform more immediate breast reconstruction surgeries per year than any other centre in Canada for women with breast cancer.

Expansion

On March 21, 2011, construction broke ground on a new eight-storey Critical Care Tower to expand Surrey Memorial Hospital. The expansion, on completion, increased the number of acute care beds by 30% to 650 and included a new emergency department almost five times the size of the previous ER. The project provides 48 private neonatal rooms, 25 Intensive Care beds, 25 High Acuity Unit beds, two dedicated medical floors, an expanded laboratory, rooftop helipad, and additional space for SMH's clinical academic campus. Construction of the new Emergency Department was completed by winter 2013, with the Critical Care Tower being opened in June 2014.

History

After World War II, the population of suburban communities like Surrey were growing. The nearest hospital,

Royal Columbian Hospital Royal Columbian Hospital (RCH) is the oldest hospital in British Columbia and one of the busiest in the Fraser Health Authority. It is located in New Westminster overlooking the Fraser River and is the only hospital in the Lower Mainland that is ...

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capi ...

, began limiting access to residents from the growing suburban communities. In 1948, the White Rock Hospital Society formed to fundraise and advocate for government support for creation of a hospital ( Peace Arch Hospital) for White Rock and

South Surrey South Surrey is a community within the City of Surrey, British Columbia, located on the Semiahmoo peninsula in the southern portion of the city of Surrey, sharing a border with the city of White Rock. Neighbourhoods of South Surrey include Cresc ...

, while residents of North Surrey and Cloverdale advocated for a hospital in the northern part of the district, which ended up being Surrey Memorial Hospital. Premier

W. A. C. Bennett William Andrew Cecil Bennett (September 6, 1900 – February 23, 1979) was a Canadians, Canadian politician. He was the 25th premier of British Columbia from 1952 to 1972. With just over 20 years in office, Bennett was and remains the longest-s ...

of the

British Columbia Social Credit Party The British Columbia Social Credit Party, whose members are known as Socreds, was the governing provincial political party of British Columbia, Canada, for all but three years between the 1952 provincial election and the 1991 election. For fou ...

required the community to contribute at least one-third of costs for construction. For Surrey Memorial, that equalled $100,000. The women who formed Surrey's first "Ladies Auxiliary" not only rose to the challenge, but personally delivered the funds to the premier in his Victoria office. Ultimately, the efforts of the community succeeded in the creation of the hospital. The hospital opened on 31 January 1959 in a ceremony officiated by then B.C. health minister Eric Martin. A few thousand people were in attendance, with tours of the new hospital also being given. In 1992, the Surrey Hospital & Outpatient Centre Foundation was established which has since raised more than $60 million to purchase medical equipment, fund innovative programs, and support training and research. SMH was eventually merged into the South Fraser Health Region (SFHR) which also administered health care in

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and

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. In 2001, SMH came under management of Fraser Health when SFHR was merged with its neighbouring health regions to create a new regional health authority. Under the guidance of Dr. Peter Doris and Dr. Adrian Lee, the breast reconstruction program was launched in 2003. This quickly expanded with the addition of trained breast and reconstructive surgeons Dr. Rhonda Janzen, Dr. Paul Oxley and Dr. Rizwan Mian. In 2011 the Breast Health Clinic was launched at the Jim Pattison Out Patient and Surgery Centre. Now with three general surgeons and five plastic surgeons, this clinic has become one of the leaders of breast cancer care in Canada.

References

External links

Location site on fraserhealth.ca

Map of hospital buildings and grounds
{{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1959 Hospitals in British Columbia Hospitals established in 1959 Buildings and structures in Surrey, British Columbia 1959 establishments in British Columbia Certified airports in British Columbia Heliports in Canada