Former city manager hired by province
Ballem contracted to analyze and advise on redevelopment of St. Paul’s Hospital
Vancouver’s former top bureaucrat has been hired to a contract position with the provincial government, two years after she was ousted from city hall.
Penny Ballem has been hired by the Ministry of Health and tasked with “analyzing and advising on the status and next steps needed” for the redevelopment of Vancouver’s St. Paul’s Hospital.
Ballem’s contract is for up to $ 24,000 for work between Sept. 26 and Jan. 31, 2018, said Ministry of Health spokeswoman Kristy Anderson in an emailed statement Thursday.
St. Paul’s Hospital, which has served the city from its West End location for more than a century, is slated to move to a new site at the intersection of Station Street and National Avenue, just north of Pacific Central train station.
There, the hospital will anchor a “world- class integrated health care, research and teaching hub,” according to the False Creek Flats Area Plan approved by Vancouver council in May. The city’s policy statement for the project pegs the completion date for 2024.
Ballem, who has experience as both a physician and deputy minister of health, served as Vancouver’s city manager for almost eight years until she was ousted in September 2015.
Under Ballem’s contract, the city was required to pay her for 20 months of service after her termination, meaning she was entitled to a severance of $ 556,000. She was replaced at city hall by her former deputy, Sadhu Johnston, who remains in the role.
In a September interview with Postmedia’s Pamela Fayerman, Health Minister Adrian Dix identified the redevelopment of St. Paul’s Hospital as one of his top priorities.
Dix said the progress made since the B. C. Liberal government committed to a major investment in St. Paul’s in 2002 was “not nearly good enough.”
“St. Paul’s is a great hospital with brilliant, dedicated staff. British Columbians everywhere love St. Paul’s, as do I. The hospital building was deteriorating 11 years ago, and the physical state of the facility after a decade of inaction is worse and increasingly unsafe for all concerned,” Dix said in September. “It is not worthy of us.”
Providence Health Care is now preparing a rezoning application for the new St. Paul’s site, and the city will share details online when they become available, said City of Vancouver spokesman Jag Sandhu.
The rezoning process will include further public consultation.