Northwest Edmonton residents will enjoy more robust hospital services at Misericordia Hospital, as a brand new, $85 million, 5,000 square metre, emergency department is opened today.
The Covenant Health-operated hospital believes the new facility will allow the hospital to care for 60,000 patient visits per year and should reduce wait times.
In all, the expansion is triple the size of the previous emergency ward and will eventually offer 64 treatment rooms. However, to start with, 50 rooms are open. On offer are 18 acute care rooms, two radiology rooms, five isolation rooms, and a decontamination suite. It also features six ambulance bays.
“We’re just so excited that the day has finally arrived,” Patrick Dumelie, Covenant Health CEO said at a news conference.
“[There’s] a lot more stretcher space, and a lot more waiting space, a lot more treatment space, and so that will definitely affect our ability to move people through the ER,” Dumelie said.
Construction on the new facility began in 2020.