Vancouver’s two largest emergency rooms are at risk of collapse in an earthquake, along with many other aging healthcare facilities, according to an article on the Vancouver Sun website.
Seismic risk assessments show buildings — including the Vancouver General Hospital’s 12-story Centennial pavilion, the building that houses the VGH emergency department and the almost 100-year-old St. Paul’s Hospital in downtown Vancouver — are at high risk to collapse in an earthquake, the article said.
Buildings at the UBC Hospital, Richmond General Hospital, Lions Gate Hospital, Burnaby General Hospital, Langley Memorial Hospital, the B.C. Children’s Hospital and the B.C. Women’s Hospital are also at risk.
The government has spent $2.2 billion to seismically upgrade or replace 214 schools since 2001, but it has no seismic upgrade program for hospitals.
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