To say that it was a mistake to shutdown Riverview is an understatement, as we need to build quite a few new Riverview hospitals. The DTES is beyond a crisis at this point, as it's spilling over onto Granville, Robson, and Davie. I'm not going to dehumanize the homeless, but many are seriously ill and in need of urgent healthcare, both mental and physical. I would much rather see them healing in a calm, wooded area where they can get a sense of things instead of the rough streets of East Hastings. Our failure to address homelessness and mental health is the greatest scar upon the lower mainland. There is so much land to build low income housing, rehab facilities, and mental health treatment, but the Riverview lands lay dormant decade after decade while Vancouver decays. It's utterly ridiculous.
Blame the wokeness of our modern culture. It’s “mean” to lock away mentally ill people, even though it is a benefit to themselves and especially to the community
The Provincial government doesn’t care about the mentally ill or the homeless. Their attitude is these people don’t work or pay taxes so they’re just overhead. It’s been said before, you can judge a society by their treatment of their most vulnerable. It’s inhumane.
I agree. 2 years ago, I was in a bad state of mind and ended up staying in the psychiatric care ward in Surrey Memorial Hospital. I was in there for 12 days. It was an utterly horrendous environment. They never let you go outside. You were stuck inside, windows barred. Most windows didn't even open to allow fresh air in, resulting in a stale dry air. I could go on what I saw in terms of staff behaviour and some of the poor people who are trapped in that hell. Riverview seems like a hell of a healthier location for individuals struggling with mental health.
they had a whole little community there for the folks . such a shame to close it . who makes these dumbass decisions ? like privatizing our provinces property .
Yes. They did this all across Canada. There was a huge mental hospital in Brandon, Manitoba that employed a lot of health care workers, that closed at the same time. I guess the Government in its infinite wisdom thought it would be better for folks needing help to live on the streets. They need to reclaim those sites and build new treatment centres.
Riverview was a part of my childhood when it was called Essondale then. My father worked there, I took YMCA lessons in the indoor swimming pool, visited with other children living in one of the employees homes, etc. Plus my Russian grandfather who I never met, died at Colony Farm from a kidney disease that affected his brain. It's too bad the buildings were full of asbestos as their exteriors was beautiful. Then there was the terrible decision to greatly reduce facilities for people with mental illness, to put them on 'better' drugs so they could live more independent lives away from the hospital.... to then end up struggling without enough support. We all know what has happened since.
My wife worked in a dementia hospital. When this shut down, it got very dangerous. Violent schizophrenics were placed with dementia patients. Patients were getting attacked. My wife was cornered and attacked. Absolutely ridiculous, we got her out of there and shes now a education assistant. I feel bad for the vulnerable elderly with dementia
@@sbaumgartner9848 Yep unfortunately the only place you wont find those tent dwellers is in the woods..where tents belong, they stay close to urban areas to keep close to thier drug supply.
Unfortunately the video doesn't go into the vast history of abuse and SA against patients. Favoritism amongst patients was a thing. Some had it okay. Some were in hell.
It definitely needs to be re-opened but they'd need to gut it to remove all the asbestos. That procedure in itself would be extremely costly. The buildings should be preserved and Lord knows the many homeless Canadians struggling desperately need help and support. The government never should have closed these facilities and it truly shows Canadians that this was all by design. Canadians don't seem to innerstand that what we've been experiencing over the past four years was planned age's ago. Many people stereotype people with mental health challenges and addictions because they assume it will never be their own problem. It doesn't work that way. Hopefully we can get people the safety and healing they need 🙏✝️💚💌🇨🇦
It's a shame all the outdoor therapeutic activities were lost. There is nowhere I can think of where that is provided. Activities are a huge benefit in healing mental health.
I live in BC and did some carpentry work for an older Irish couple who were nurses at Riverview. They said that after its closure they could recognize some of their ex-patients on the streets of Hastings, even years later. ---- Today certain political parties are promoting 'safe supply' without an emphasis on rehab, and the mentally ill see no improvement. I have hope that healing institutions like Riverview will have a resurgence once we kick out stupid selfish leaders. We pay so much damn taxes in BC that better go to helping the least fortunate effectively.
Should have stayed open, would help a lot of people now....same with Ponoka outside of Edmonton, had beautiful grounds and a healing nature. Family member spent time there and he said he liked it being so isolated and full of green space.
I remember visiting a friend when he was a patient there in the late 90s. It was such a beautiful, peaceful place and my friend seemed happy and well cared for. I remember hanging out in a smoking room where you lit your cigarette by putting the end in a hole in the wall and pressing a button.
I clearly remember when this closed. Many people were against it's closure, happened anyway. It seems like it would have been a great institution, especially since therapeutic treatments were the usual.
There was a very practical reason Riverview was shut down: it was falling apart, plumbing was disintegrating, electrical was outdated by decades (huge fire hazard), walls were collapsing, ceilings were weakening and it was an asbestos death trap. Fixing and/or tearing down and rebuilding would have cost the BC taxpayers 100s of millions of dollars. The Feds were handing out money to build new and smaller "de-institutionalization" facilities while using medications. I've filmed at Riverview hundreds of times over a long film career. There's only 3 buildings we're allowed to film in and only in certain parts (I've been in some of the DO NOT ENTER buildings and they're ready to fall down with the next wind storm - terrifying). When I first filmed there in the early 90's, it was bad. Now 35yrs later with no remediation work done, Riverview is a death trap. Some film crews refuse to go inside for (a not unrealistic) fear that the roof will fall on their heads. Many productions are using Riverview only for exterior shots. All that said, in recent years the BC gov't has been seen surveying the buildings and marking out where new buildings would go. The province has also talked publicly about rebuilding Riverview, so it's not a secret but you can be damn sure it won't start/be finished for a LONG time.
Yeah but now they are spending billions of dollars handing out opioid drugs to people that need care instead of being out on the street. And it’s gotten to the point that people who are overdosing are clogging up the healthcare system. Where did you learn math? At film school?
My uncle worked at Riverview as a chef/cook in the late 80s and early 90s, and he would tell us kids creepy stories about the tunnels under the compound.
Worked here in the early 2000’s in East Lawn. It always creeped me out working night shift. Beautiful grounds. They never should have closed down. They needed to refurbish it and keep it open.
Hollywood Hospital in New Westminster became a shopping Mall at 6th and 6th. It was a world-renowned mental care facility using experimental psychedelics therapy, eventually banished by big pharma.
I have worked in film for 15 years and have filmed at Riverview more times than I can recall with the first show being Man in the High Castle. I have never experienced anything super natural or ghostly but I can understand how empty disused places have that "creepy energy". I know some harsh practices went down their but their limited understanding of mental health lead to unfortunate experimentation. People with mental health disorders had a place to be cared for as much as the eras allowed. I personally love Riverview and its beautiful grounds.
This land should be returned to the mentally ill and the movie industry needs to go. Our streets are a disgrace. We need a modern day facility now and yesterday.
While I agree that the land should be used for a place to support the mental health industry unfortunately the buildings are so loaded with lead and asbestos that they are too unsafe to even tear down. The buildings are safe to film in as long as nothing is structurally disturbed. May as well use the space and bring attention to the issues, which this video has done. It is my understanding that there are some buildings on the north side of the property that are new and are used for supporting the mental health industry, there needs to be more however and that is down to governmental decision making.
I know film caterers who worked there for many years who made a point of slipping in and making spooky noises when they were on breaks. The creepiest part is the tunnels connecting the buildings underground IMHO. If the ghosts don't get you the asbestos will.
My great grandmother went there and was given shock therapy for her epilepsy. Although our medical system has come a long way it’s also reverted to an unhealthy way of dealing with mental health. Places like this need to be given another look. Too many on the streets that are now right offs
The history of woodlands and the courthouse of New West would be great stories. This was great as my grandfather used to be a cook at Essendale in the 50s and 60s.
This clears up much of my confusion . I had several relatives on staff there and one frequent patient. They patients were abandoned to live in fifth and misery, noone to follow them up with medication and shelter. The culprit? Greed and politicians!
Poor decisions were made for sure. It was a safe place for them. Closing it without a better solution to deal with those in need was a mistake. Thanks for watching!
Nice video. Appreciated the drone footage showing the place I worked at for almost 2 decades. Kinda weird actually. Fun and important fact, Riverview is something like the second oldest horticultural garden in canada. There's mature, old trees that are very rare and is a the foundation of the tree walk that used to happen all the time. Trees imported from asia etc. if you walk around east lawn for example the grand old trees will have brass placards with information on them. This is one of the main reasons why the Riverview grounds haven't been expropriated more .. because the grounds is a huge green space that the city and developers are salivating to claim as a huge income and tax base. In addition to the aboriginal angle. Lastly, rehabbing the buildings for mental health or other purposes would almost be unfathomable requiring incredible political will and finances. But not impossible. Lastly, it was Gordon Campbell and his Liberals that functionally closed down Riverview. You can blame him. It was sad and tough time to go through.
One thing this video is missing, is the fact that there are multiple mental health and rehabilitation centers that still operate on the riverview grounds. They even opened a brand new facility only a couple years ago.
Yes, the Red Fish Healing Centre opened recently on the grounds. I did consider mentioning it, but since it isn't affiliated with the original Riverview Hospital I chose to not mention it. Thank you for bringing it up in the comments though :)
My grandfather was there in 1902 .There was only three people there at that time Dr.Creese ,Dr Essen, and my grandfather.My grandfather retired in 1957 as superententant of stores
I worked in a back ward where, mostly long term residents, with dementia or traumatic brain injuries were cared for. Most had to be fed, bathed, dressed. The head nurse was a supreme disciplinarian. Everything had to be spotless, no slacking off and she demanded our wards be treated with respect. If you weren't providing care you were swinging a mop. The long term staff had the patience of saints to deal with the patients, most of whom struggled, screamed, and fought when we provided care. When the decision to close it was made the mantra was that smaller community based homes would provide better outcomes. The problem was of course NIMBY, and, inadequate funding. Instead most wound upon the streets where their life was incredibly hard, exacerbated by not receiving reliable doses of their psychoactive medications. On top of everything else they became prey to street thugs.
Wrong the problem WASN'T NIMBY. These places were in the country, away from the cities. The actual problem was greed, and gov't ineptitude. Its expensive to build and run large institutions. We're now finding ou,t that it's even more costly, NOT to.
To privatize, you have a well running public entity, that serves the citizen's; the funding and support are pulled to make it impossible to operate! Either it is sold to private for profit corporation, or close it completely!
It’s a beautiful place even now but sadly some buildings have had the cellings fall in on themselves but the rest is still gorgeous. Hope they restore it
My grandmother apparently used to work there, so thanks for this. Apparently she also found what would become her family's dog wandering the grounds there.
The old expression " threw the baby out with the bathwater" comes to mind. Not so apt but only thing I can think of. Greed and disinterest by governments contributed to closures like this all over the US! The homeless population is a dramatic example of one effect of these closures. Dumped out with no place to go.
My Mom took her Psych Nursing training there; my Dad worked at Colony Farm. They met and the rest is history. I would love to see the buildings put to good use.
Although I understand it was closed probably cuz these kinds of hospitals tend to have a bit of abuse, I wished they revamped it. It would be a great place for modern mental health professionals to work and provide proper care.
It was interesting/terrifying as a kid when the alarm would go off when a patient escaped. Moms racing down the streets to gather their kids. Babysitting anywhere that backed into the woods was interesting/terrifying. The grounds were beautiful at both Woodlands and Riverview. One of the buildings you knew was for the extra special ones, nasty horrible criminals beyond help. But it was a great place to have. Now we have almost nothing. Build these places and staff them. I don't know how to do it or else I would.
This was an interesting video, though I would have liked to hear about the patient abuse here, the presented information didn't get into the problems with the facility.
the comments below your video reaffirm this issue, everyone seems to assume it was all wonderful and just closed to save money. You mentioned ghost stories, but why would these stories exist if not for people being abused there? Anyone interested in more information could start with this video: YNbVdOwt4BU
My mother lived in the nurses residence during her time achieving her psychiatric nursing degree. She worked many years in nursing and eventually became Director of Recreation and painted Pennington Hall pink. Her name was Rosa. She retired in 1988. I spent allot of time at Pennington Hall as a child, interacting with the residence.
What I remember was , in the 60's the talk of reducing Riverview. The shock by staff by the lack of communication by the politicians of the time. There was no one in government that knew why Riverview was needed , there was no respect for staff input. To put it simply; it is probably the biggest renoviction in Canada! They built a motel like building, started placing residents there; if they could make instant coffee and toast; they were put out in the street.
Great vid! Riverview also held a psychiatric nursing school and some long term housing for patients. Can't post this to facebook for some reason. I get this message "Your message couldn't be sent because it includes content that other people on Facebook have reported as abusive."
As someone who lived in the area. This was just pain wrong. All to save about 25 million/yr. A relative was the head of housekeeping at Crease Clinic. It was a very underpaid gig.
Very interesting stuff! You have tons of topics, I'm sure, but I'd love to hear about the history of Britannia Beach and Mount Shear. Dramatic stuff has happened there, plus the scale of that mine is unfathomable.
Britannia was actually one of my first subjects I worked on. I have half of it scripted so far but abandoned it for some reason. It’s a video that I do want to finish and this comment will motivate me to complete it! Thank you
Alberta Hospital on the NE corner of Edmonton is in the state Riverview was in, some newer buildings, the older ones still stand, vacant. The political move across the country started rampant homelessness with no place for people who need it. Alberta Hospital held 1500 and now treats 400, with most buildings being offices, 2nd offices for many. "Antipsychotic" medication is merely sedatives, they should be on high fat moderate protein diets for best recovery, hospital food is mostly carbs, no wonder people never get healthy.
My late Aunt Laura Powell was in Riverview when it was known as Essondale. Now that I’m older I better understand the pain it must have caused my mum when we went to visit.
My heart goes out to your mother and all family members affected by having loved ones there. Essondale was a major part of my life as a kid. My father worked there as a psychiatric nurse, just like others from Poco did. I took YMCA swimming lessons in the indoor pool there, played with kids whose parents had homes there, etc. My grandfather died at Colony Farm during the depression; he had a kidney disease that went to his brain.
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@@sbaumgartner9848 Thank you for your kind words and sharing your experiences. My aunt eventually left and went home, but I’m sure many folks didn’t.
This is a really interesting video. Thank you for sharing. After watching a bunch of Jon Levi videos about old-world architecture being discovered and repurposed rather than built, whenever I look at old brick buildings, I question the narrative we're given. Does it make sense that this beautiful brick building was built from 1909 - 1913 in a remote area with what ... horse and buggy? Or was it initially discovered and repurposed? The original use of this space to support health with hydrotherapy, massage, safe care and peaceful surroundings, healthy food, recreation, work, and a normal routine sounds amazing. I bet they were far more effective at helping people when "mental illness was not well understood at the time and little could be done to treat patients." It sounds like they were far wiser than we are now that we "know" so much.
As someone born and raised here in BC, I'm loving these videos!! I was going to suggest Massey Tunnel, but see you have one already 😊 Maybe the Iron Workers Bridge? Or the McBarge 😏
I did my practicum there 1999-2000 The tunnels are super creepy lined with what looked like jail cells. There was still Alot of abuse which we reported to our college, Shortly after they no longer sent students there. Prayers for all who have passed through those doors 🙏
I had an uncle who spent some time there, he claimed they gave him lsd and made him watch porn, and gauged his reactions. He could have been lying, as he was prone to do, but I'da know. He was kind of a pervert, but he could have been made so by his experiences there.I'll never know, God rest your soul Uncle Jim, you were a riot, Christmas was never the same without you. Merry X-Mas, General ! you used to say, Good times!
The Charter of Rights. Turn them loose and hope for the best. Probably the biggest mistake in health care history. The making of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest didn’t help either. The majority of homeless are mentally ill, and or traumatized. I hope there will be a politician with the guts to review this policy and get people the health they need.
I worked downtown in '92 (Granville & Hastings area) when large portions of Riverview closed and there were mentally ill people on the streets immediately after that, it was a very noticeable change.
You can thank the film “one flew over the coocoos nest” as to why places like this are not arround anymore. I guess our society decided that drug den hotels downtown are a better place for people suffering from mental illnesses than hospitals like this.
They gave my sister Electric Shock treatments at Riverview... They made her take off her 18K gold earrings (that she had borrowed from me) while they did the shock therapy... She never got the earrings back... Yes, the nurses stole from the "mentally ill" patients... My sister was "crazy" so no one investigated the theft. I do agree that there was a great need for mental health Hospitals. When they closed down Riverview... all those patients had no where to go and many ended up as the "homeless" on the streets of Vancouver. Shameful!
When I shared a house with other young people (in 1976) a Riverview patient came over to Victoria to be part of a chess tournament. One of the young men in our group had invited him. Same fellow thought it would be funny for the patient to visit me and enjoy my female company! I spent the whole night leaning on my door to thwart entry. I was scared!
This video didn’t touch on the absolute atrocities that occurred to patients by staff, and that’s one of the main reasons it was shut down. Patients were repeatedly sexually, physically, and mentally abused by their so called “caregivers”. Many were gang raped. Patients were brutally beaten, burned, drugged to death, given lobotomies, cut to death…the list goes on. This went on for years. I’m amazed you could make a video like this almost glorifying this hell space. It doesn’t give the patients any justice. Watch the documentaries that were produced to see how much more damaged the patients became after being sent to this place. They suffered all kinds of abuse and were drugged so much that they couldn’t speak to their families about it. Those that said anything to their loved ones were killed by staff (their abusers). Secret cameras were brought in by families who caught the abuse and they sued River View. Then the place shut down. The gov barely offered a decent apology and reparations to the survivors and families that lost loved ones. It was a total shit show!
I’ve worked on several of the productions filmed there. The air around there is very heavy. You can without a doubt feel the negative energy that resides there. (The fact that there is still a working morgue in North Lawn doesn’t help) there is also a jail and a crematorium there. It’s not a nice place. The film Liason took a colleague and I on a “forbidden” tour. It was chilling. There’s a dark windowless room that was reserved for funeral services for a tiny gathering of family (maybe big enough for 6-8 people) there are underground tunnels that connect the buildings. There’s a sad little cemetery… it’s a dreadful place really.
I used to work at riverveiw hospital, i was a janitor for the moving film industry. The basements rooms, more like tunnels inside the west building. We have heard a female scream from the top floor, which we werent allowed to go to. Only floor 1 2 3 and the basement were allowed to enter.. iam first nations and have been feeling entities in that place the whole time..
And the government of that day felt, and the government of today still somehow feel, that leaving people with serious mental health issues (those who can't properly care for themselves), to their own devices, is better than having these facilities operational.
Colony Farm is operating again with a new facility for forensic psychiatric care. It is mostly for people with mental health conditions or concurrent disorders (mental health and substance use issues) and who are found not criminally responsible or have complex mental health conditions which cause them to be unable to stand trial. While there were issues and abuses in institutional care, many people had supports they needed, and connected with community, a loss many experience in the greater community.
When I worked on set of GodZilla there were staff members complaining of a dog running the halls of the tuberculosis unit…… we also had to Cut filming for a bit because there was a metal door in the floor above us slamming shut over and over again. Security didn’t find anyone on the upper floors, super spooky. 😅
Growing up we’d use Essendale as a slur only knowing it was mental illness place…didn’t have a clue where it was and now I know. We need a place for our severely mentally ill that is secure, safe and a calm space. Residential & outpatient..
Imagine the movie industry ...instead of taking care of our mentally ill...reopen a modern day facility for our most vulnerable society. We now need long term detox and long term treatment. We can do this. We just need some leadership.
Ah yes, the Libs shut it down, sold off property to developers, let those needing help (serious help) onto the streets with little if no support. Right Kevin?!
In 1984 when they did sell some of the land to developers, the BC Social Credit Party was in power and Mulroney was PM. According to the video and other sources, the decline at the hospital was due to more smaller regional centers opening and the introduction of outpatient care relying on certain medications. From 2002- 2012 it was all a gradual shutdown of operations for the reasons stated above, but there are some small facilities remaining that provide mental health care for about 280 people. The govt still owns what is left and had "plans" on opening new mental health units but that has stalled, maybe because they like making money from the film industry, or just poor govt management, just my opinion.
Actually, it was Mike Harcourt's NDP government that was responsible for closing Riverview. I was a student doing a practicum at that time. The NDP ousted people who had spent decades living there with promises of opening facilities "Closer to home" and then abandoned them.... It was under the Liberals that the last residents were discharged, but it is the NDP who facilitated this shameful act.
I know of several younger patients from Riverdale that ended up in long-term care facilities where they terrorized the elderly residents till they violently attacked staff and / or residents before being removed to secure units. The innocent and most vulnerable payed dearly for these people being placed in noisy busy environments that increased their psychosis. Failure to care was turning these poor souls on the street and a black mark on our province. Retired gerontology RN
I am almost positively thinking that the homless populations, drug addiction, crime rates ,including violent crime rates significantly increased not only in Vancouver but also Surrey were do to the closure of Riverview, I knew a few people that worked there who all told me the same thing that many of the people released shouldn't have been released many were harmful to society as well as to themselves, all of that just after Riverview closed the whole ghost things well I have been told a few stories from the people that worked there a;; said it was mostly that feeling of being watched and weird other things not one of those people said they have actually seen anything, it was just that energy because of all those people there and that energy probably would stay there. the feeling of walking into a room after an argument, but everyone is smiling you can feel it .
It was absolutely criminal what they did with the poor people that were there. They just turned them all onto the streets and did nothing to help them. SICKENING GOV always sickening Gov doing this shit and think of the so-called doctors that allowed this. The people in charge should have been jailed for this.
How sad we no longer have facilities for those in need. We waste so much money now on things that just don’t make a difference and don’t even get me started on the free drugs
I remember when it was called "Essondale" Anyone know when the name was changed? A relative spent time there in an isolated building for "the criminally violent and insane" I heard it was a HORRIBLE place and that is why they shut it down. Psychiatric and psychological awareness has certainly grown and improved. Perhaps it's a financial problem now. 🤔 One of the commentors said that asbestos was a factor?
My great uncl died at Essondale..The BC Provincal Governerment will not allow archival information..85 years later! Even now, we cannnot lay him to rest
LOL the civil service saved some money by closing the hospital, but now we all share the costs of having so many mental patients inhabiting the down towns of most BC cities and towns. Folks with mental problems are now on their own - street drugs, crime, muggings > good work! whomever you are who saved us all that provincial budget money.
They treated folks as best as they could at the time,with not as clear of an understanding of mental illness, nor the advanced medications and treatments we have available today.
You didn't do enough research regarding reasons for closing the hospital, such as the movement towards decentralized care. Don't forget this was a provincial hospital, so the patients came from all around the entire province. This meant separating family members from the Island, North, Central Interior, etc and sending them to Coquitlam. Also the recognition that deinstitutionalization from a central Provincial psychiatric hospital to regional centres was a more progressive model of care. You also failed to mention that these new regional centres of care are where the patients AND staff were transferred when the hospital closed. Every patient in the hospital had a transition plan to transfer to a new replacement bed, and the vast majority of the experienced staff who had worked at Riverview followed these patients to work at the new facilities. Patients WERE NOT discharged to the street, that would have been unethical and criminal. It is tiring to hear the misconception that patients were simply let loose to fend for themselves on the street. In fact, new facilities were built on the grounds preceding the closure, and more new buildings have been constructed for patient care years after the initial closure. As for the DTES, that is a very complex discussion, but keep in mind that you should not equate drug addiction and homelessness automatically with chronic and persistent mental illness, so many of the people who call the DTES home would never have been suitable for admission to Riverview in the first place.
Closing this Place was a huge mistake. They stopped the patients from doing the vegatable garden saying it was abuse? This is how insane the supposedly sane are, they stopped Colony farm from producing the meat for the hospitals. They stopped patients from tending the livestock. All these activities were educational and kept the patients form being bored, it gave them a purpose. The grounds are beautiful and it was a safe place for patients. But bleeding hearts and other fools decided to let the vunerable be on the streets and fend for themselves. I feel the city and developers are drooling on developing the property. They should reopen this place and put those with mental issues or relapsed in it. The sane are the real insane people
