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News Release - Manitoba

November 15, 2019

Emergency Department Redevelopment at Dauphin Regional Health Centre Now Complete

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New, $23-Million Emergency Department to Improve Patient Flow: Friesen

The new $23-million emergency department at Dauphin Regional Health Centre has been completed, with its new entranceway opening on Monday, Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen announced today.

“This new emergency department is three times larger than the previous space and is improving patient flow while helping staff do their work more efficiently,” said Friesen.  “The new space reflects our continued commitment to improving health care for all Manitobans including those in the Dauphin and Parkland region.”

The original emergency department was built in 1985 and last updated in 2001.  Work began in early 2017 to develop the new, 16,000-sq.-ft. emergency department in multiple phases.  In the first phase of the project, the health centre’s existing emergency department was temporarily relocated within the building to allow for major renovations.

The redeveloped and expanded space includes:
•    an updated resuscitation/trauma care room;
•    enhanced treatment, exam and observation rooms, which will increase efficiency in patient flow and work flow within the emergency department;
•    a decontamination room;
•    a special care unit for extended emergency care of patients;
•    support space;
•    a new pedestrian access ramp at the back entrance of the facility; and
•    an enclosed ambulance garage which allows patients to be moved directly from an ambulance into the emergency department without going outside or through public waiting areas.

The new emergency department began seeing patients in July, using the centre’s old entrance while work continued on a new main entry for the facility that includes a driveway.

“Dauphin Regional Health Centre is the second largest hospital within our health region and with the redevelopment complete, Prairie Mountain Health has provided for a modernized, quality space for our patients and health-care staff,” said Penny Gilson, CEO, Prairie Mountain Health.  “This new space improves patient flow and patient access, and many security upgrades also provide a safer environment for everybody.”

The increased space and redesigned physical layout incorporates several recommendations from the Brian Sinclair inquest report including improving patient access to triage and providing direct access and visibility to the waiting room for triage nurses responsible for monitoring patients.

“This new site will make a real difference for people in the community and surrounding area,” Central Services Minister Reg Helwer said in Dauphin today.  “I’m pleased to note the investments that our government is making will ensure people across rural Manitoba have access to quality health-care services.”

The ministers said opening the new emergency department builds on other investments at the centre including the installation of a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner last December.

Other recent investments in emergency care include new emergency departments at Flin Flon General Hospital ($27.1 million) and at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg ($43.8 million).  The government has also committed to a new emergency department at Winnipeg’s St. Boniface General Hospital.

Funding for emergency medical services has also been increased by $12.1 million since 2016, allowing for the creation of an additional 149.2 full-time equivalent paramedic positions throughout rural Manitoba.  The government has committed to adding 80 more paramedic positions over the next four years.

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