VANCOUVER - The provincial government has approved over $210 million to build and equip two major new health-care facilities that will improve patient care in the Fraser Valley, Mission-Kent MLA Dennis Streifel announced today on behalf of Health Minister Corky Evans.

The two health complexes will integrate a 300-bed acute-care hospital with a new regional cancer centre to serve residents of the eastern Fraser Valley. The new Fraser Valley Health Centre will be built as a replacement for the aging Matsqui-Sumas-Abbotsford Hospital. The new Eastern Fraser Valley Cancer Centre will be the BC Cancer Agency's third regional cancer centre in the Lower Mainland. The two health complexes will be built on land owned by the Fraser Valley regional hospital district at a site on Marshall Road in Abbotsford.

"Integrating these two health services at one site will offer state-of-the-art health-care at one efficient, accessible location," said Streifel. "It's an excellent proposal from the health region and the cancer agency - one that will have a dramatic impact on the quality and delivery of health-care in the Lower Mainland."

The two health-care facilities will allow the Fraser Valley health region to meet its goals in serving a rapidly increasing population. About half the population in the health region lives in Abbotsford. The population in this area more than doubled since 1980, but local acute-care beds and cancer care have remained constant.

"Together, these new facilities will provide a phenomenal improvement in health-care and new services not now available in this health region," said Streifel. "Health authorities need to be able to plan and deliver services for patients within their own region."

Once completed, the centre will allow families to receive health care closer to their homes as well as relieve pressures on health-care resources in Vancouver. It is estimated that the acute-care facility will cost over $178 million to build and equip. The cost will be shared 60-40 between the Ministry of Health and the Fraser Valley regional hospital district.

"The Fraser Valley is growing rapidly and we must keep up with the challenge of providing quality services - a big priority is maintaining health care for our families," said George Ferguson, chair of the Fraser Valley regional hospital district. "The new centre is the best solution for this region and will offer the most advanced technologies and care."

"This is a major integration of health-care facilities," said Rollie Keith, chair of the Fraser Valley health region board. "It's absolutely the best option for meeting our health-care demands efficiently."

The Eastern Fraser Valley Cancer Centre will be the BC Cancer Agency's fifth regional cancer centre for the province. There are two existing cancer centres in the Lower Mainland: the Vancouver Cancer Centre, and the Fraser Valley Cancer Centre in Surrey. The other two centres are in Kelowna and Victoria. The new cancer centre will cost about $32.3 million to build and equip and will be funded by the Ministry of Health.

"The BC Cancer Agency is extremely pleased that the government recognizes the continuing need for cancer services," said Dr. Simon Sutcliffe, president and CEO for the BC Cancer Agency. "The number of new cases rises three per cent each year, and with more patients surviving five years or more, the need for current, accessible cancer services is a high priority.

"The opportunity to build in partnership with a new health care campus allows us to place cancer services in the area of the greatest population need, while providing integrated comprehensive care for the residents of the valley," added Sutcliffe.

The facilities will provide services to the local health area as well as specialized programming to the residents of the entire Fraser Valley Health Region.

In June 2000 the Fraser Valley Health Region and the BC Cancer Agency submitted a joint proposal to the Ministry of Health for a new facility to replace Matsqui-Sumas-Abbotsford Hospital and integrate a new regional cancer centre for the eastern Fraser Valley. In late June the ministry approved up to $1 million to proceed with preparing a business case to support the proposal for these facilities. All major capital proposals require a business analysis to ensure taxpayer dollars are invested wisely. The health services group of BC Buildings Corp. has been providing development-management services for this project on behalf of the Fraser Valley Health Region and the BC Cancer Agency.

The targeted opening date for the two health centres is in 2005.