New ER will provide better care

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/06/2018 (2766 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As your representative in Kirkfield Park, I was very excited to represent the government of Manitoba at the official opening of the new Grace Hospital emergency department on May 24, along with Premier Brian Pallister and health, seniors and active living minister Kelvin Goertzen.

The new ER is a state-of-the-art facility that will provide better care for residents of St. James and the rest of Winnipeg.

The new $43.8-million emergency department at Grace represents an important improvement in ER care for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA). The new ER is more than five times the size of the hospital’s previous emergency department, and has a modern “care-zone concept” design that enables patients to receive treatment in different areas with staff teams based on their needs. It will also allow staff to deliver care to patients who have less serious concerns and who do not require a stretcher or electronic monitoring.

This modern layout means patients won’t have to wait as long to see a doctor or nurse, and will allow health care professionals to be more efficient in their roles.

Not only does the layout create a more efficient ER, but its upgraded technology and comfort are second to none. Some of the new features include 24 assessment and treatment rooms equipped to provide a full level of emergency care, a dedicated X-ray, EKG and laboratory space, a large ambulance bay that can accommodate several vehicles and reduce patient offload times, and a quiet room and exterior garden for patients and families who require time to reflect. 

The expanded and upgraded Grace emergency department is a major part of the plan of our government and the WRHA to improve wait times at Winnipeg hospitals. This work to reorganize and consolidate clinical and hospital services is showing significant improvements in patient care, as emergency and urgent-care wait times in Winnipeg have decreased by 19 per cent between this past March and April.

This month-to-month improvement comes on the heels of the WRHA’s release in April of a preliminary report for the end of 2017-18 that indicated an overall 16 per cent reduction in wait times at Winnipeg emergency departments through the first phase of the Healing Our Health System reorganization that was launched last October.

It’s exciting and encouraging that our plan to improve our health-care system is showing positive results. The new Grace Hospital emergency department is going to play an important role in health care improvements in Winnipeg. I’m impressed with this facility and proud that it’s in my Kirkfield Park constituency.