The current hospital has had two forerunners, with the first being opened on 18 April 1922. This hospital, called the 'Cottage' Hospital opened with a mere 14 beds. Eventually, as Abbotsford and its environs began to grow, a new hospital was needed, and so the Abbotsford-Matsqui-Sumas Hospital opened on 28 February 1953. Despite renovations and upgrades, advocacy for the creation of the now current hospital began two decades prior to its 2008 opening. The community served by MSA grew substantially in recent decades and the three districts amalgamated to form the City of Abbotsford after a
plebiscite in 1995. By the turn of the century, replacement of MSA Hospital was a political issue for the growing Fraser Valley community. After
Gordon Campbell was elected as
Premier of British Columbia in 2001, his local cabinet ministers
Michael de Jong,
John van Dongen and Mission MLA
Randy Hawes advocated for construction of a new, larger hospital and addition of a regional cancer centre using a
public-private partnership (P3) model.
Public-private partnership (P3) Design, construction and facility maintenance services are provided by private partner Access Health Abbotsford, a consortium of companies including
Sodexo, under a 30-year contract. The design reduced energy costs and environmental features that earned the hospital designation as
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold by the
Canada Green Building Council. ARHCC was the first P3 infrastructure project for the province's newly created agency
Partnerships BC. As a new model for BC public infrastructure, the P3 approach attracted criticism from groups such as
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. In the end, ARHCC was built on time and on budget ($355 million for construction and equipment) and the
Auditor General of British Columbia assured the P3 approach would benefit government by $39 million over 30 years. Fraser Valley taxpayers contributed $71.3 million to construction and equipment costs through the
Fraser Valley Regional Hospital District. Property adjacent to ARHCC was used by non-profit societies to build three facilities titled the Dave Lede Campus of Care: •
Canuck Place Children's
Hospice, programs and services – including end-of-life care – for children 19 years old and under with progressive, life-threatening illnesses • Dave Holmberg House, an adult hospice operated by the Abbotsford Hospice Society • Matthew's House, a respite facility for children with severe disabilities == References ==