When the new $2.2-billion St. Paul’s Hospital opens in 2027, the facility and surrounding campus – the largest hospital-development project in B.C. history – is promised to deliver “the highest quality, integrated, innovative and patient-centred care.”

But an exceptional feature of that care only recently came to public attention when the St. Paul’s Foundation, which is raising $225 million toward the hospital and future needs, took out a half-page ad in a Vancouver newspaper to announce that the new hospital will feature a richly decorated, strategically located chapel thanks to a $3-million gift.

Philanthropist Marion Man said in an interview with The B.C. Catholic that she and her husband, Scott Shaw, made the chapel donation because they believe an essential aspect of high-quality health care is supporting the spiritual wellbeing of patients, their families, and the wider community.

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 right to a lot of people, but it’s a fact … Spiritual healing is essential.” In support of that commitment, Man is working with the foundation to ensure the chapel’s long-term programming needs are supported as well.

Baptized in 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 years old,” 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’s such a saint.”

                    Marion Man

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

Man said she has long supported Christian unity – and often prayed at Holy Rosary Cathedral when she worked downtown. She said the couple’s donation is meant to honour the legacy of the Sisters of Providence who founded St. Paul’s Hospital in 1894. “It’s all about keeping the legacy of St. Paul’s, because I really admire and adore those nuns,” Man said. “Those kind of things inspire me.”

Man said the donation is also aimed at countering the loss of sacred spaces in the public domain. “We have to preserve the sacred space,” she said. “I don’t want St. Paul’s to lose that legacy.”

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

Man pointed out that, rather than being “tucked away” like the current chapel, the new chapel will enjoy a prominent position in the new facility beside the main entrance and adjacent to the entrance atrium.

Its windows will feature scenes from both Scripture and nature, the foundation said in a written statement. “In addition – importantly – the new St. Paul’s Hospital will be located on unceded, ancestral and traditional homelands of Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples, and the design of the hospital overall is being undertaken through dialogue, consultation and relationships with sovereign host Nations.”

Inside the proposed chapel. All artistic renderings are for depiction purposes only. (PCL Construction)

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

At 1,700 square feet, the chapel will be three times the size of the existing chapel. It will seat 30 to 40 persons but will accommodate more for larger events, and ceremonial doors at the rear of the chapel can be opened to the atrium to accommodate particularly large ceremonies, celebrations, or events.

The new chapel will be open 24 hours a day, as is the current one. Daily Masses will continue in the new chapel, with a minimum of five a week. The foundation said audiovisual and IT systems in the chapel are planned so chapel services can be broadcast to patient rooms throughout the hospital.

Dick Vollet, president and chief executive officer of St. Paul’s Foundation, said the foundation is grateful for the Man and Shaw gift. “Helping fund the chapel at the new St. Paul’s Hospital honours the founding sisters of Providence, whose vision for innovative health care driven by compassion 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 that gave at least $5 million. They are 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. P.A. Woodward’s Foundation, and staff at St. Paul’s Hospital.

Man said that while she hopes her generosity inspires others, she feels she is simply doing her duty. “Everything we have is from God … The money is not ours,” she said. “God entrusts it with us, so we can do what he wants us to do.

The proposed main entrance showing the chapel at left.

“I was brought up that way. My mother said, ‘Nothing comes from us. It’s all from God.’ It’s true: everything is from God – my life, my breath is 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, about three kilometres east of the current St. Paul’s historic Burrard-Street location. Construction cranes were scheduled to appear at the site by mid-March.