Surrey City Centre Redevelopment Plans

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by EhJay

Be a pretty speedy build if they are going to have the 2023-2024 grads graduating.

That's impossible for MDs. The SFU Med School would need to have been accepting applications in fall 2019 and hold MMIs in January 2020 to select the class of 2024 that would begin their four-year program in fall 2020.

The most important (and unannounced) part of this very positive news is what the province's plans will be for the associated residency programs. Increasing med school spaces without a concomitant increase in residency spaces is counterproductive and, honestly, disastrous.

Residency spaces are the bottleneck. There are more med school spaces in the country than there are residency spaces, and if you graduate from med school without a residency space, you're effed. You cannot practice medicine without going through residency. Provinces like to add med school spaces but seem to be allergic to adding residency spaces.

Ontario recently cut 75 residency spaces and then later magnanimously announced the ‘new’ funding of 40-50 something residency spaces. It was still a net loss of 25-plus residency spaces but was presented as great news!

If the SFU med school doesn't include residency spaces on a 1:1 basis, it's missed the mark.

With all that said, I'm thrilled with this news and can't wait to learn more!

[dferch]

If grads are in 2024, that would mean that the school starts in existing infrastructure. No way that a building will be ready in 3 years.

[jollyburger]

Originally Posted by EhJay

Be a pretty speedy build if they are going to have the 2023-2024 grads graduating.

They start in 2023, they come out 10 years later. 60 students. UBC has 288 (with satellite locations as well)

The NDP has promised to create a new medical school in B.C. if re-elected, but it’s not clear whether that would help ­residents find a family doctor.

“Having a second medical school was not on our radar of something that was in the Top Five or the Top 10 things that you would want in order to take a look at what’s going on with the health care system, said Dr. Rita McCracken, an expert in the family doctor shortage.

The medical school is part of the NDP election platform. Vancouver Kingsway candidate Adrian Dix, who was the health minister in the NDP government, revealed Tuesday that the new school would be based at Simon Fraser University. Sixty students would be in the first class. The goal is to have that class start in 2023-24, said Dix.

Dix called the proposed school, which would include a partnership with the First Nations Health Authority to develop training to meet the needs of Indigenous communities, “transformative.”

Communities across B.C. continue to experience a shortage of family doctors despite the addition in recent years of ­primary care networks and urgent and primary care ­centres, meant to relieve ­pressure on hospital emergency rooms.

According to Statistics Canada, 97,800 people — or nearly 15 per cent of the population age 12 and older on Vancouver Island — had no regular health-care provider in 2015-2016.

The problem was even more pronounced in the capital region, where 18 per cent of the population or nearly 60,000 people had no regular provider, a category that includes family doctors, medical specialists and nurse practitioners.

The province has one medical school, located at the University of British Columbia. It has 288 seats in programs around the province, including 32 in the Island Medical Program at the University of Victoria.

Enrollment has increased greatly over the past 12 years, McCracken said, but that hasn’t translated to more people having family doctors.

“Despite us having seen drastically increased numbers for both medical students and family practice trainees, we have not seen a concordant decrease in people searching for a family doctor,” she said.

Most provinces similar in size to B.C. have more than one medical school, so some competition or the provision of different specialties — UBC has been research focused — could be beneficial to the province, McCracken said.

“But just producing more graduates, I don’t see any direct evidence that that is going to help us,” she said. “I’m not sure.”

She would like to see a better way to employ doctors — community health centres, for example, where physicians and other health professionals work as a team to provide longitudinal care to patients based on the community needs.

“There needs to be a dramatic shift in the way we employ family doctors,” she said. “I don’t think I think we can just continue to increase the number.”

Until there is a change, newly trained doctors will continue to specialize — working in nursing homes, addictions care, emergency medicine, sports medicine, esthetics — instead of going into family practice, she said.

New urgent and primary care centres offer much-desired team-based care, extended days and hours, and often a salary instead of the traditional fee-for-service model of payment. But McCracken said the centres are focused on episodic care — urgent cases that need to be seen with 12 to 24 hours — rather than longitudinal care for patients throughout their lifetime.

“So its essentially a really well-resourced walk-in clinic — which may be an element of what the system needs, but it is not the be all and end all,” she said.

https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local...ol-at-simon-fraser-university-1.24219604

[jollyburger]

Another article about residencies from 2018:

Enrolment in Canada’s 17 medical schools has remained flat over the past several years, at around 11,700. In contrast, enrolment in medical schools in the United States has risen by 30% since 2002–03 in response to concerns over a future shortage of doctors.

So, it might seem that a simple solution to Canada’s doctor shortage would be to increase enrolment in medical schools. Provincial governments control enrolment numbers, but most medical schools would welcome the ability to take on more students, according to Dr. Genevieve Moineau, president of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada. “If a school feels it has the capacity, it would be happy to expand,” she says.

The demand is certainly there from prospective students. Dalhousie University, for example, receives between 900 and 1100 applications annually for its 108 first-year positions.

But a shortage of residency positions means any rise in the number of medical students would be counterproductive, as there would be no way to provide the extra graduates with the postgraduate training they need to become practising physicians. “It’s very important that provinces ensure that the number of medical school spots is right, but they also have to support them with the appropriate number of residency spots,” says Moineau.

In recent years, the number of residency positions available across Canada has fallen. Ontario, for example, has cut 25 positions, says Moineau. For all students to be matched with positions in their desired specialties, a ratio of about 110–120 positions for every 100 graduates is needed. This was the case until the last few years, says Moineau, but the ratio has since fallen to just 101 positions per 100 grads. This has led to a rise in the number of graduates who cannot find residency positions. “In 2009, there were 11 unmatched graduates,” says Moineau. “Last year, it was 169.”

The rise in American medical schools’ enrolment numbers is sparking similar concerns in the US. A survey by the Association of American Medical Colleges found that 78% of medical school deans are concerned about the ability of incoming students to find residency positions of their choice nationwide. The problem could end up being worse there because unlike in Canada, where provincial governments control the number of residency positions, in the US any hospital can set up a residency program and determine how many residents will be admitted. “It’s much more like the Wild West,” says Moineau. “You end up with more unfilled positions and unmatched grads.”

The problem is not just with the number of positions, but also the types and locations. At the University of British Columbia, for example, about 40% of residency spots are for family medicine and 60% for other specialities, says Dr. Shelley Ross, cochair of Doctors of BC’s general practice service committee. “That ratio should be the opposite,” she says.

What is needed, says Dr. Henry Annan, past-president of the Canadian Federation of Medical Students, is a pan-Canadian strategy that considers both the number of medical students and the number of residency positions across the country in a socially responsible way. “Now every province does it differently, but doctors are free to move,” he says. “The only way to know where and what kind of doctors we need is to have a national system.”

The federation has met with federal politicians to request that they begin working with the provinces to develop such a system. “With the increase in unmatched grads, hopefully the need is more apparent,” says Annan. If more doctors are needed, the best way to get them is to train more medical students and ensure they have enough residency positions, says Annan. “It takes a long time, but this is the kind of long-term planning we need.”

https://cmajnews.com/2018/10/03/if-canad...chool-enrolment-increased-cmaj-109-5649/

[SFUVancouver]

^ That’s what caused my confusion.

[rpvan]

This is something downtown Surrey has long needed.

Opinion: Proposed 10,000-seat indoor stadium would catalyze downtown Surrey
https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/surrey-indoor-stadium-proposal-opinion

[Migrant_Coconut]

Great news if it comes to pass. Less reason to spend the evening downtown, more reason for non-locals to spend the evening in Surrey.

That said, a stadium needs a team (not just concerts) - are junior leagues and lacrosse going to be enough?

[dferch]

Sfu hockey games are a far cry from 10,000 spectators, same with the surrey eagles. The Giants are probably staying in Langley for a while.

[ArmoredinRed]

Originally Posted by dferch

Sfu hockey games are a far cry from 10,000 spectators, same with the surrey eagles. The Giants are probably staying in Langley for a while.

From the article:

"The group says there would also be an opportunity to establish the arena as the relocated home for a professional ice hockey team."

The quote may not mean much now, but the group obviously sees the need to house a long-term tenant that will draw a crowd. Perhaps the giants do move. I mean, it is going to be a while before a facility like this is ready to house a team in Surrey. It could easily be 10 years away.

That being said, it could also be an opportunity to house a relocated AHL team. It would have the potential to be more successful than the defunct Abbotsford franchise with more potential attendance from the entire lower mainland and with ease of access via mass transit. If the Canucks get behind the affiliation, it would be an easy win for the region.

[EhJay]

Originally Posted by ArmoredinRed

From the article:

"The group says there would also be an opportunity to establish the arena as the relocated home for a professional ice hockey team."

The quote may not mean much now, but the group obviously sees the need to house a long-term tenant that will draw a crowd. Perhaps the giants do move. I mean, it is going to be a while before a facility like this is ready to house a team in Surrey. It could easily be 10 years away.

That being said, it could also be an opportunity to house a relocated AHL team. It would have the potential to be more successful than the defunct Abbotsford franchise with more potential attendance from the entire lower mainland and with ease of access via mass transit. If the Canucks get behind the affiliation, it would be an easy win for the region.

Not that the Canucks would be interested in an affiliate team so close (perhaps they would?), but it would certainly have some positive offshoots to being so close and building up their brand.

The location at Surrey Central SkyTrain doesn't seem to be the most likely. Rather the Lions practice facility seems like it would make more sense.

[Henbo]

SFU has also had its eye on a Div 1 hockey team, with a vision for an arena on Burnaby Mountain

Maybe there's an alignment here. Would help continue to cement SFU Surrey

[ArmoredinRed]

Originally Posted by EhJay

Not that the Canucks would be interested in an affiliate team so close (perhaps they would?), but it would certainly have some positive offshoots to being so close and building up their brand.

The location at Surrey Central SkyTrain doesn't seem to be the most likely. Rather the Lions practice facility seems like it would make more sense.

Why wouldn't they? To your point, it would synergize the fanbase and hockey in the region.

Many AHL/NHL affiliations reside within the same region or supported by neighboring cities. The top league attendance generally has teams located in close(ish) proximity to their NHL affiliate.

Utica currently pulls in the 7th worst attendance in the AHL. Seems as though many in New York area are not very interested in watching the Vancouver farm team. There is a business case for an affiliate in Surrey, for sure.

[Sheba]

I was wondering why this was coming up again and then realized it's for an indoor stadium and not an outdoor arena. I presume the Bear Creek Park one is still happening (I haven't heard anything recently but then I haven't checked either). For reference:

The existing track-and-field facility at the park will be upgraded to international competition standards, with the existing wooden bleachers replaced with a 2,200-seat covered grandstand.

There will also be other informal seating areas, concession spaces, meeting rooms, a timing booth, washrooms, and team change rooms.

To better ensure the new stadium can be used for year-round training and regional competitions, the grandstand structure will also include an indoor, 80-metre track, and a fitness gym.

The centre field of the outdoor track will be turf for soccer and football play.

I second putting a new space at the current BC Lions training grounds. I don't know why some people think everything needs to be clustered around Surrey Central Station, and this space is only a 5 min walk from Gateway Station.

[officedweller]

Surrey Central should be reserved for the CBD.

Gateway Station area (Lions Training) is good (ie BC Place isn't at Burrard or Granville)

[Cypherus]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Surrey Central should be reserved for the CBD.

Gateway Station area (Lions Training) is good (ie BC Place isn't at Burrard or Granville)

Agree. Plus, one near the Lions Training field is between both Gateway and Central City Stations, giving people two points of entry and exit via rapid transit.

[Nites]

Originally Posted by officedweller

Surrey Central should be reserved for the CBD.

Gateway Station area (Lions Training) is good (ie BC Place isn't at Burrard or Granville)

I hope they don't use the center block either. Would rather prefer the latter. My preference has always been the Safeway site.

[ArmoredinRed]

It's been a tad bit sad not seeing the urbansurrey page updated since March. But I noticed today that it will be transitioning into a monthly newsletter. Perhaps this will provide some additional updates and perspectives on developments in Surrey.

Hopefully this means Shift is up and active again. Shift offers great updates!

Link:
https://urbansurrey.blog/2020/10/19/city-centre-newsletter/

[dferch]

Yea I miss his blog and contributions here but I guess it means he's busy with other stuff

[Nites]

Yea he was a good guy. Wish him the best.

[ArmoredinRed]

The newsletter is pretty slick! It must be taking up a fair amount of time:

http://surreycitycentre.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/DTSBIA-Newsletter-2020-10.pdf