B.C. Children's Hospital's roots go back to the establishment of a fund for
crippled children by the B.C. Women's Institute in 1923. In 1928, Vancouver's Crippled Children's Hospital admitted its first patient at its Hudson Street location. In 1985, the Children's Variety Research Centre opened, showing the increasing importance placed on medical research. In 2003, a $28 million expansion saw the opening of a new Ambulatory Care Building, for the increasing numbers of patients not needing to stay overnight. The building tripled the number of clinic rooms available on site for patients and staff, and houses 24 pediatric specialty medical and surgical clinics. The project also involved the nearby
B.C. Women's Hospital & Health Centre's new Maternity and Ambulatory Program Clinics, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Emergency renovation and expansion. In 2007, a new $19-million Mental Health Building opened. "It was the first freestanding facility of its kind dedicated to youth mental health in Canada. The modernized 4-story facility serves children and adolescents with serious mental health challenges from all across the province. Services such as emergency care, long term psychiatric care, an outreach program, as well as a significant area for assessment and training are provided". In 2008, the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) was renovated in a $4.4-million project to enhance family and staff areas and improve the unit's capacity to care for children who require strict isolation. The building "will be a bright, modern facility with single-occupant patient rooms, access to natural light and gardens. It includes medical/surgical inpatient units, an emergency department, medical imaging and procedural suites, a hematology/oncology department and a pediatric intensive care unit for BC Children's Hospital." was officially opened.
Teck Resources Limited earned its name on the new building due to its $25 million donation to
BC Children's Hospital Foundation. In May 2019, the name for the building that houses its mental health programs and resources changed to The Healthy Minds Centre. In September 2020, the new Sunny Hill Health Centre, which provides specialized developmental assessments and rehabilitation care to children, youth and their families from across B.C., opened at the site. The space is 10,163 square metres (or 33,343 square feet), has 53 designated assessment rooms in the outpatient clinics, many of which have observation capacity, 14 private inpatient rooms, with adjoining private washrooms and space for families to visit and sleep, with ability to expand to 18 if needed. The space also features a fully accessible pool with movable floors, an open-concept gym with a fun, multi-purpose therapy environment and seamless access to a patio, an interactive garden for mobility training and relaxation, a high-tech motion analysis lab, and a family-focused lounge with space for child play. The building also has spaces specifically designed to accommodate the needs of children and youth who have hearing, visual and sensory disabilities or sensitivities. This centre was part of the third and final phase of the $676-million BC Children's and BC Women's Redevelopment Project. Sunny Hill had previously been located in East Vancouver since 1961. In May 2022, the BC Government approved a business plan for a new centre for children and youth with complex health-care needs, to be built at the former Sunny Hill Health Centre site in East Vancouver. The centre will be for patients up to 19 years old who are living with complex, chronic conditions and have difficulty performing routine daily and typical childhood activities without assistance, have significant caregiving requirements and frequently use the provincial health-care system. A 74-space child care centre will also be built on the site, which will be operated independently from the complex-care centre. ==Facilities==