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Phase 1

May 2004 -- Our new Emergency Services Department will be open for business! Our new Emergency Services Department (ESD) will be the first of the new spaces to be ready for patients.

The thought and planning that has gone into this new Emergency Services Department is amazing! The layout and design of the unit will allow staff to care for patients in a whole new way.

For example, the design, layout and equipment in the various treatment rooms are made to accomodate different types of emergency situations, ie: major trauma and cardiac situations, fractures, lacerations, sore throats, earaches, fevers, etc.

The new Emergency Services Department will have 12 private patient rooms as well as a private triage area, where our non-critical patients will be interviewed and assessed. The new ESD also has its own entrance and registration area along with the new adjoining Ambulance Garage, into which people bringing patients to the ESD can drive and meet one of our ESD staff.

July / August 2004 -- the new Ambulatory Care and Surgery Departments, as well as our new public spaces will come online near the end of the summer of 2004. As more and more surgeries are being done on an outpatient basis, this new 20-bed Ambulatory Care department will work with the Surgical Department to provide a better, more efficient and easier-to-use system to handle patients.

The new public spaces, including our new Garden Court have been designed as spaces where patients' families and loved ones can go and sit on a comfy chair or couch, hear the crackle of the fireplace and watch water cascade down our new water feature.

In addition to the Garden Court, the new main entrance, surgical waiting lounge, remodeled food court and coffee bar will all be open by then end of the summer.

We are excited to have our new Community Health Library also open by this time. This library is designed for our patients, their families and anyone else who is in need of health information. We will have resources as well as experienced staff to guide information-seekers to whatever it is they need to find.

November 2004 -- By the end of the year, our new inpatient units will be complete. The Adult Health Unit will have 40 private patient rooms which will surrond all of our patient services. The inpatient physical, occupational and respiratory therapies as well as the pharmacy will all be relocated directly on to the patient floor. This will provide a far more convenient and efficient way for patients to receive their therapy treatments. This will also allow us to care for patients in a more private and confidential way.

The rooms themselves are still all private but will almost double in size compared to our current facilities. Each room has its own bathroom and features a large window with a couch that can be converted into a daybed for those family members who wish to stay overnight with the patient.

The Women and Children's unit will house both our Family Birthing Center as well as the pediatric department. On the top floor of the new addition we be the new helipad. At the base of the ramp up to the helipad will be the dedicated patient-transport elevator which will do directly down to the Emergency Services department.

Phase 2

Spring 2005 -- after 9-12 months of asbestos abatement and remodeling work, the 1972 building, which currently houses all of our patient care areas will be re-opened for most of our ancillary services. There will be space in this wing of the hospital that will be "shelled in", creating room for future expanion of existing services or the addition of new ones.

Phase 3

Summer 2005 -- In the final phase of the project, we will tear down part of the 1937 wing to create more on-site parking.

The lack of sufficient and convenient parking is the #1 complaint we hear from our patients and their families. We plan to address this in the final phase of the project.