When the new $2.2 billion St. Paul’s Hospital opens in 2027, the facility and surrounding campus – the largest hospital development in British Columbia’s history – promise to deliver ” highest quality, integrated, innovative and patient-centered care”.

But a standout feature of that care only caught the public’s attention recently when the St. Paul’s Foundation, which is raising $225 million for the hospital and future needs, released a half-page announcement. in a Vancouver newspaper to announce that the new hospital will feature a richly decorated and strategically located chapel thanks to a $3 million donation.

Philanthropist Marion Man said in an interview with The British Columbia Catholic that she and her husband, Scott Shaw, donated the chapel because they believe that an essential aspect of high-quality health care is supporting the spiritual well-being of patients, their families, and the community at large.

It’s a philosophy they share with Providence Health Care, which operates St. Paul’s and six other facilities to meet “the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of those served through compassionate care, teaching, and research.”

“I always promote spiritual healing,” said Man, a former social worker. “I know ‘spiritual healing’ doesn’t sound good to a lot of people, but it’s a fact…Spiritual healing is essential.” In support of this commitment, Man works with the foundation to ensure that the chapel’s long-term programming needs are also supported.

Baptized into the Lutheran faith at the age of six in her native Hong Kong, Man said a Lutheran missionary, Martha Boss, inspired her to live a life of Christian charity. “I remember when I first saw her, when I was maybe eight or 10,” Man said. “She was so different. I asked her why she cared so much and she said, “Because God is love. I have tears in my eyes when I think of her. She is a saint.

After Boss died in a car accident in 1973, Man – then a trained social worker – took over part of her ministry, which included youth and health services.

The man said she has long been a supporter of Christian unity – and often prays at the Cathedral of the Holy Rosary when working downtown. She said the couple’s donation is to honor the legacy of the Sisters of Providence who founded St. Paul’s Hospital in 1894. “It’s about keeping the legacy of St. Paul’s alive, because I truly admire and adore these nuns,” Man said. “Things like that inspire me.”

Man said the donation also aims to address the loss of sacred spaces in the public realm. “We need to preserve sacred space,” she said. “I don’t want St. Paul’s to lose that heritage.

The new Chapel of the Good Samaritan, as it will be known, is designed to inspire. Architectural renderings of the chapel show a vaulted ceiling, stained glass windows enlivened by natural light, and a tiled floor with a “flowing path” pattern. St. Paul’s design-build partner for the project is PCL Construction.

Man pointed out that, rather than being “hidden” like the current chapel, the new chapel will take pride of place in the new facility next to the main entrance and adjacent to the entrance atrium.

Its windows will feature scripture and nature scenes, the foundation said in a written statement. “Additionally, and importantly, the new St. Paul’s Hospital will be located on the ancestral and traditional unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples, and the design of the entire hospital is being undertaken by the dialogue, consultation and relations with sovereigns. Host nations.

Commissioned artwork can also be added with Indigenous and theological themes. Planners have not yet determined what features, if any, of the existing chapel will be transferred to the new chapel.

Covering an area of ​​1,700 square feet, the chapel will be three times larger than the existing chapel. It will accommodate 30-40 people but will accommodate more for larger events, and the ceremonial doors at the rear of the chapel can be opened to the atrium to accommodate ceremonies, celebrations or particularly large events.

The new chapel will be open 24 hours a day, like the current one. Daily masses will continue in the new chapel, with a minimum of five per week. The foundation said audio-visual and computer systems in the chapel are planned so that services from the chapel can be broadcast to patient rooms throughout the hospital.

Dick Vollet, president and CEO of the St. Paul’s Foundation, said the foundation is grateful for Man and Shaw’s donation. “Helping fund the chapel of the new St. Paul’s Hospital honors the founding sisters of Providence, whose vision of innovative, compassionate health care lives on today,” Vollet said in a written statement.

The foundation says 43 people or organizations have donated at least $1 million to the overall project, including nine who have donated at least $5 million. They include Jim Pattison (whose $75 million pledge made headlines in 2017), the Jemini Foundation, Teck Resources Ltd., the Cullen family, the Lalji family, the Tong and Geraldine Louie Family Foundation, the Rotary Club of Vancouver Hearing Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. PA Woodward’s Foundation, and the staff of St. Paul’s Hospital.

The man said that while she hoped his generosity would inspire others, she felt she was simply doing her duty. “All we have is from God… The money is not ours,” she said. “God entrusts it to us, so that we can do what he wants us to do.

“I was brought up like that. My mother said, ‘Nothing comes from us. Everything comes from God. It’s true: everything comes from God – my life, my breath comes from him. So whatever we have, we should encourage people to…give back.

Construction of the new hospital is now underway in the False Creek Flats area, approximately two miles east of the current historic location of St. Paul’s Burrard-Street. Construction cranes were expected to appear at the site in mid-March.