Canadian Convention Centers Work for Society in Response to COVID-19

Alternate Care Site Update

As part of the B.C. Pandemic Provincial Coordination Plan and in support of the Government of British Columbia, the Vancouver Convention Centre is working with Vancouver Coastal Health and other key partners to prepare its West building for utilization as an Alternative Care Site should it be required.

The Alternate Care Site will be a province-wide resource. It will add more bed capacity for lower acuity, non-COVID-19 patients to allow additional capacity within regional hospitals for critically ill COVID-19 patients who may need access to our critical care units

For more information about the Alternate Care Site and its operations, please see Vancouver Coastal Health’s information page here.

Our team is proud to work with the Government of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health to support British Columbians during this unprecedented situation, and we are committed to ensuring the health and safety of every person within our facility.

These are challenging times, but we will continue to navigate this uncharted territory together. Please remember that, now more than ever, it is crucial that all of us stay informed, connect with our friends, families, colleagues and communities while maintaining responsible physical distance, and provide support to those who are vulnerable or in need. 

Vancouver Coastal Health

Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) – in partnership with the Ministry of Health, Providence Health Care, Health Emergency Management BC, the Canadian Red Cross and B.C.'s Mobile Medical Unit – is mobilizing an alternate care site at the Vancouver Convention Centre, as part of its COVID-19 preparedness planning.  While VCH continues to be cautiously optimistic that the COVID-19 curve can be flattened, precautionary steps continue to be taken, including setting up an alternate care site, as part of the pandemic response.

The purpose of the alternate care site is to add more bed capacity for lower acuity, non-COVID-19 patients to allow additional capacity within regional hospitals for critically ill COVID-19 patients who may need access to our critical care units.

The alternate care site will increase health-care capacity across the province, augment existing hospital infrastructure and provide additional bed capacity across VCH and the province.

A VCH medical director and operations lead will be at the site to oversee transfers to and from the site, provide medical oversight and support an interdisciplinary team of health care providers including doctors, nurses, care aides and other clinical and non-clinical care providers. The site will be ready by April 8th.