Photo: BC Gov't

The provincial government is moving ahead on funding of a new intensive care unit for Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.

Health Minister Adrian Dix says the new unit will help meet the demands of a growing and aging population and offer improved care for critically ill patients.

The Health Ministry says in a news release that the current 10-bed unit built in 1970 was described in an external review five years ago as "one of the worst in Canada and a risk to patients."

Cost of the new intensive care unit is estimated to be $33.85 million, which will be shared between the province, the Nanaimo Regional Hospital District, and the Nanaimo and District Hospital Foundation.

Construction is expected to start in early 2020 and the first patients should be treated in the unit by late 2021.

The government says intensive care unit visits at the Nanaimo hospital are expected to total almost 2,500 this year and the number of visits is expected to grow to about 3,250 over the next 15 years.