New QEH emergency department getting ready to open doors
AL MACLEOD
The Guardian
Islanders will soon be able to depend on a new state-of-the-art emergency department at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for medical assistance.
A small group of government officials, including Premier Robert Ghiz and Health and Wellness Minister Carolyn Bertram, along with hospital staff and the media, gathered in the spacious lobby of the new department to celebrate its upcoming opening during a ceremony Monday.
The $16-million department, which is part of the $24-million first stage of phase one of the hospital’s redevelopment project, is scheduled to be available to patients and staff near the end of June with the remaining renovations of the first stage scheduled to be completed by this fall.
Walking through the corridors of the 23,000-square-foot department, the differences between it and the current one at 8,200 square feet are obvious.
The new department has an emphasis on privacy, safety and efficiency as the modified-linear model features 29 exam rooms, 37 patient care rooms, two critical care rooms, a diagnostic imaging suite for X-rays, an ambulance bay that can accommodate up to four large ambulances at a time, a future space for a CT scan room and the crown jewel of the renovations — a large trauma room that can accommodate two patients at a time and expand to house four patients in an emergency.
There will be no more carts in busy hallways as there are a number of alcoves to store them until needed to transport equipment and supplies to patients.
Rick Adams, executive director of the QEH, said the department is a welcome addition to the hospital and it will have an immediate impact on patients and staff.
“This truly is a whole new world in terms of emergency care at the QEH,” Adams said.
Walking through its sliding glass doors, the impressive new trauma room caught the premier’s attention during a brief tour of the department.
“It’s just like on ER, like you would see on TV or something,” Ghiz said.
Anita MacKenzie, QEH nurse manager and co-chair of the QEH redevelopment committee, said the design of the department is based on site visits to hospitals in Halifax, Amherst, Moncton, Saint John, Toronto and St. Louis, Mo., as well as input from staff on their own experiences.
“We wanted to find out what other people have done and what works and just as importantly, what doesn’t work,” MacKenzie said.
The trauma room is a huge
feature of the project and will work to not only improve the health-care services the QEH can offer but will also work to recruit new talent to the hospital, MacKenzie said.
“I just think it’s going to be awesome working in it.”
The QEH redevelopment project is the first major renovation to the hospital since it was built in the 1970s.
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