The Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre has achieved LEED^® Gold certification for its design and construction.

“Achieving LEED Gold certification was a real team effort and speaks to the work of everyone involved, on the project team,” said Health Services Minister Kevin Falcon. “This means that we have a hospital that will be a sustainable green performer – caring for patients as well as the environment.”

The Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre has received certification of LEED^® Gold for its design and construction. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED^®) is a building rating system used to construct sustainable or high performance “green” building. Green buildings are designed and operate in a way to conserve natural resources, create a healthier environment for occupants and reduce both landfill waste and greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted to the atmosphere. The Canada Green Building Councils verifies and provides the LEED^® standards for environmentally sustainable construction in Canada.

“Healthy environments help speed up the healing process for our patients,” said Dr. Nigel Murray, President and CEO, Fraser Health. “Natural light and views to green spaces in patient rooms and many other facility features are beneficial for patients as well as our staff, physicians, and volunteers. At Fraser Health, we are committed not only to environmentally sustainable construction but also in the delivery of our services as employees look at how to reduce waste and reuse materials when possible and practical.”

“We are delighted that our newest facility has received LEED^® Gold certification. It truly reflects our organization’s commitment to environmental sustainability,” says Lynda Cranston, President and CEO, Provincial Health Services Authority. “The BC Cancer Agency’s Abbotsford Centre is a beautiful ‘green’ facility that offers staff a healthy place to work and patients a healing environment.”

The private partners, AHA Access Health Abbotsford Ltd. (AHA) brought together local talent and global expertise to design, finance, construct, and maintain the state-of-the-art Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre. The AHA team includes John Laing Investments Ltd., MCM/Silver Thomas Hanley, PCL Constructors Westcoast, Johnson Controls and Sodexo.

Canadian Green Building Council members, representing every sector of the building industry, award points that addresses six major areas in new construction:

• Sustainable sites
• Water efficiency
• Energy and atmosphere
• Materials and resources
• Indoor environmental quality
• Innovation and design process

For more information, please visit http://www.cagbc.org/leed/systems/index.htm

Abbotsford Regional Hospital serves as a community hospital to 150,000 Abbotsford residents, offering increased access to acute care, outpatient services and health information and is an important regional referral hospital for 330,000 residents in the Fraser Valley.

The BC Cancer Agency’s Abbotsford Centre is the fifth regional cancer centre to open in the province and represents a critical expansion of the provincial cancer control network. The Abbotsford Centre is integrated within the Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre site. Since opening for patient care August 25 2008, there have been about 30,000 patient visits to the new centre.

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For media inquiries, please contact:

Fraser Health Media Pager
604-450-7881
www.fraserhealth.ca

BC Cancer Agency
604-806-2338 (pager)
www.bccancer.bc.ca