VANCOUVER (September 18, 2023) – As B.C.’s health care crisis deepens, the true nature of the NDP’s mismanagement of several hospital projects, including massive budget overruns and significant delays, is being revealed.
“Increasingly, every hospital project that David Eby and the NDP are responsible for is riddled with massive cost overruns and inexplicable delays — they just don’t know what they’re doing,” said BC United leader Kevin Falcon. “At a time like this, with B.C.’s health care crisis worsening, vital projects like the second Surrey hospital and the Burnaby hospital redevelopment are needed more than ever before. As someone who has overseen billions of dollars worth of projects in both the public and private sectors, I cannot understand how the NDP can repeatedly be billions over budget, and years behind schedule, on these projects before construction has even begun. It’s unacceptable.”
Recent announcements from the NDP confirm the second Surrey Hospital project has ballooned $1.22 billion over budget and is delayed by two years before construction has even started. With these cost overruns, the per-bed cost for the Surrey Hospital project could potentially make it one of the most expensive in the world, at $17 million per bed. Meanwhile, the Burnaby Hospital redevelopment project is plagued by a staggering budget overrun of $1.1 billion and is now projected to open a full three years later than originally promised. These problems are not unique, as the NDP’s Cowichan District Hospital replacement project is three years behind schedule and $850 million over budget, largely due to their use of discriminatory union-benefits agreements that favour only the NDP’s hand-picked unions.
“Once again under the NDP, British Columbians are spending more than ever on infrastructure and getting far less for their tax dollars,” said Shirley Bond, BC United Shadow Minister for Health. “How many other hospitals, clinics, schools, or units of housing could be built for the more than three billion additional dollars the NDP government is spending on these projects? In the middle of an affordability crisis, B.C. must ensure that every dollar invested in health care is spent as effectively as possible. This kind of irresponsible mismanagement does not serve British Columbians well, and only worsens the ever-growing health care crisis.”
