Nanaimo General Hospital is set to open their new intensive care unit (ICU) on Wednesday, June 28.

The ICU will provide the people of Nanaimo and surrounding areas with 'vital, urgent health care'.

The ICU will feature the following:

• Single-patient rooms
• Ceiling-mounted service booms and overhead patient lifts
• Medication room 
• Family consult room

“It’s fantastic to see the new ICU completion, which is triple the size of the original ICU. The region of Nanaimo is experiencing a lot of growth right now and this new space will deliver quality, critical care for generations to come.” – Doug Routley, MLA for Nanaimo-North Cowichan

The hospital's current ICU was built in 1970 and featured 10-beds. It was described as 'outdated in its space and functionality'.  

Construction on the 12-bed high-acuity (HAU) continues at the hospital, with it slated to open in the summer of 2024. The HAU helps provide patients with more acute care and closer monitoring than a general hospital ward, but requires fewer resources than the ICU.

In the end, the project will cost $60.1 million with ICU costing $41.6 million and the HAU costing $18.5 million.

“The Nanaimo Regional Hospital District is pleased the new intensive care unit at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital is ready to take patients. This modern, well-equipped ICU will enable the hospital’s highly skilled and dedicated medical team to better respond to our region’s critical care needs. We are proud to be a funding partner of this essential investment in health care that will serve central and north Island residents for years to come.” – Ian Thorpe, chair, Nanaimo Regional Hospital District