October 17, 2022
Manitoba Government Announces Site for New Neepawa Hospital
– – –Construction of New Facility to Begin, Provide Care Closer to Home Once Complete: Gordon
NEEPAWA—A new hospital that will offer residents in Neepawa and surrounding communities improved access to a wider variety of specialty services will be built on nearly 40 acres of farmland on the town’s east side with preparations for construction on the property slated to begin in two weeks, Health Minister Audrey Gordon announced here today.
“Our government is building a stronger health-care system for all Manitobans including residents in Neepawa and surrounding communities in the Westman region,” said Gordon. “When complete, this investment in a new hospital will serve as a foundation for a health-care system that allows residents in this region to more easily access specialized health-care services closer to home without the need to travel to larger centres like Brandon or Winnipeg for care.”
The new facility will be located on recently rezoned land east of Lions Riverbend Campground near Provincial Trunk Highway 16. The Neepawa facility is expected to serve patients from the broader geographic area.
Features of the new facility, which will be nearly four times the size of the existing Neepawa Health Centre, will include:
- 63 acute care inpatient beds, up from 38 at the current site;
- an expanded emergency department designed to best practice standards that include treatment and assessment rooms, a trauma room, stretcher bay and ambulance bay; and
- enhanced space for a number of programs, such as surgery, diagnostics and palliative care as well as various outpatient services including chemotherapy and ambulatory care services.
“Prairie Mountain Health is extremely pleased to be moving forward to replace the existing Neepawa hospital as we work with our health partners and stakeholders to meet the anticipated needs of our growing population within this part of the health region,” said Brian Schoonbaert, CEO, Prairie Mountain Health. “We are grateful that construction will soon begin and plans for additional communication with staff, community leaders and residents will take place in the very near future.”
Additionally, renal services will be established in the community for the first time at the new site, following a review of the number and frequency of patients travelling for dialysis treatment. There are currently 28 hemodialysis patients living in the catchment area who could potentially benefit from the new, eight-station unit in Neepawa.
“Kidney dialysis patients who live in or near Neepawa are used to making multiple trips per week to other communities to receive care,” said Dr. Mauro Verrelli, provincial medical specialty lead for renal health, Shared Health. “Establishing this service in Neepawa will improve their quality of life by significantly shortening commutes, allowing them to be closer to the network of family and friends they rely upon for support.”
Construction crews are scheduled to mobilize at the site in the first week of November, the minister noted, adding substantive work on the new facility is expected to begin in the new year with the project targeted for completion in 2025. The project represents an investment of at least $127 million.
Manitoba is investing at least $812 million in building, expanding and renovating health-care facilities across the province in support of Manitoba’s Clinical and Preventive Services Plan. Led by clinicians, the plan establishes a geographic network of care that improves access for Manitobans with other capital projects including:
- expansion and renovation of the Brandon Regional Health Centre and Western Manitoba Cancer Centre;
- renovations at Dauphin Regional Health Centre;
- construction of a new hospital in Portage la Prairie; and
- expansions at the Selkirk Regional Health Centre, Bethesda Regional Health Centre in Steinbach and Lakeshore General Hospital in Ashern.
For more information on Manitoba’s Clinical and Preventive Services Plan, visit: https://sharedhealthmb.ca/wp-content/uploads/CPSP_Overview_NL.pdf.
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