In the second local healthcare-related campaign promise in days, the NDP's Adrian Dix said that 91原创 Memorial Hospital's operating rooms will get an upgrade in the near future if their party is elected.

Speaking outside the hospital's ER, Dix said on Tuesday, Oct. 15 that LMH will get a significant upgrade to its surgical capacity "right away."

The announcement came not long after the publication of a letter by a group of 91原创 surgeons decrying the lack of upgrades to the hospital's operating rooms over the years.

"We are long past being able to deliver the standard of care and experience our patients and the community deserve," said the letter, dated Sept. 7 and signed by 18 doctors. "There have been no meaningful capital improvements in surgery since the ORs opened 35 years ago."

Dix praised the doctors working at LMH and the outcomes for patients, and also listed upgrades made at LMH in recent years, including a new MRI machine and an expanded emergency room. He acknowledged that doctor were working in "difficult" conditions.

"With new resources and renewed facilities, they'll be doing even more," said Dix, who was flanked by about a dozen doctors during the announcement.

He also acknowledged that doctors at LMH have been advocating for upgrades.

"I think it's important to proceed with that," he said.

Asked about timelines for the upgrades, he indicated that it would be soon.

"It's one we can proceed with right away," Dix said.

Healthcare has been at the forefront of the election, and there have been numerous promises in the 91原创 and Surrey area by the NDP and Conservatives.

Dix was in 91原创 just before the writ dropped to announce a plan to build a 300-bed long-term care facility, replacing the aging complex on the grounds of LMH.

On the last weekend before the election, 91原创-area candidates John Aldag, Megan Dykeman, and Andrew Mercier promised a new hospital tower, to be built on the former long-term care facility grounds after the new 300-bed unit is built.

B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad, meanwhile, recently promised a new children's hospital in Surrey.