Then the province announced it would be building a new 350-bed to 500-bed hospital at Ellerslie Road and 127 Street SW instead. Instead, it promised the Misericordia just $85 million in capital dollars: $65 million for the emergency department and another $20 million to spend on smaller capital projects. In 2016, my colleague Keith Gerein broke the news that Covenant Health was asking the government for $2.7 billion to build a new 900-bed hospital, west and north of the existing building.īut the province didn’t come up with that money. But again, that was just playing catch-up. ![]() Over the last years, the province has given Covenant Health, the parallel Catholic health agency that runs the hospital, an additional $26 million to make basic repairs and to pay for basic things like new working elevators and new nurse call buttons. But the whole hospital is an outdated mess. More like a tourniquet to staunch an arterial bleed. It’s because we’re applying a giant Band-Aid to a badly broken hospital building with no clear plan on where we go from here. The prospect of having a modern ER, complete with x-ray suites and proper beds under construction before the end of this year certainly sounds like a good thing.īut here’s the bad news. The Misericordia Hospital is getting a brand-new, $65-million emergency department.Īnd why is that bad news, if the old emergency room is so badly needed? It’s a miserable place to be when you’re sick or in pain, or when you’re worrying about someone you love.įor staff, the situation isn’t much better. The current waiting room is small, dated, and dysfunctional. If you’ve been at the Misericordia emergency department in the last few years, either as a patient or as someone bringing in a friend or family member for care, you know that this facility is badly overdue. The new emerg would have capacity to treat 60,000 patients per year. Right now, it’s getting 50,000 visits annually. ![]() The old emergency room, which opened in 1969, was designed to serve 25,000 patients per year. It will be more than twice as large as the current space: 5,000 square metres, instead of the current 1,700 square metres.Īnd it will have two X-ray suites, instead of none. It will have six ambulance bays, instead of four. Activate your Online Access Now Article content ![]() If you are a Home delivery print subscriber, unlimited online access is included in your subscription. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.
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