Information bulletin
Vancouver Coastal Health to rename George Pearson Centre
VANCOUVER, B.C. – Starting this fall, Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) will engage with local community partners and stakeholders to rename George Pearson Centre, a care home in south Vancouver for residents with complex medical and physical conditions.
Earlier this year, a community group advised VCH that George S. Pearson lobbied against the rights and freedoms of racialized people in the 1940s, and requested VCH consider a more culturally appropriate name for George Pearson Centre.
The beliefs and actions of George S. Pearson do not align with VCH's core values: We care for everyone, we are always learning, and we strive for better results. With full support from the VCH Board of Directors, VCH has initiated a renaming process for GPC to better reflect its values and the diverse communities it serves.
Over the coming months, VCH will engage with community partners and stakeholders to ensure a transparent, respectful and collaborative process to choose a new name for the site.
VCH recognizes that names hold power and signal organizational and community values – the health authority is committed to making its sites more culturally safe and humbly acknowledges the work that still needs to be done.
VCH is responsible for the delivery of $4.1 billion in community, hospital and long-term care to more than one million people in communities including Richmond, Vancouver, the North Shore, Sunshine Coast, Sea to Sky corridor, Powell River, Bella Bella and Bella Coola. VCH also provides specialized care and services for people throughout B.C., and is the province's hub of health-care education and research.
