Press Release
Pembroke Regional Hospital
PEMBROKE – After nearly a decade of planning, exciting changes are coming to the Pembroke Regional Hospital’s inpatient surgical space with construction scheduled to get underway this summer as part of a two-year $18 million Surgical Redevelopment Project.
“In late April, our hospital was given the green light by the government of Ontario to award the construction contract for this significant improvement project which will modernize, improve and expand our hospital’s surgical facilities,” said PRH President and CEO Pierre Noel.
“One of the many great outcomes of this project will be the co-location of all surgical services and surgical patient space on the third floor of Tower A and D which are linked by an enclosed walkway,” said Mr. Noel, adding that the new layout will allow for better patient flow and it will also reduce noise and traffic in the inpatient surgical space.
As an all-in-one surgical program, patients and families will go directly to the third floor where they will be greeted by our registration clerk and directed to register for their procedure, pick someone up after day surgery or go visit a loved one in a patient room.
“With so much effort and dedication put into the planning stages of this project over the past 10 years, we are very excited to finally see it progress and we look forward to sharing updates as the phased work moves ahead,” he said.
Approximately 90% of the project’s $18 million cost will be funded by the province while the remaining 10% and equipment costs will be covered by the close to $3 million that was raised through the PRH Foundation’s Cutting Edge Campaign.
“Nearly 60 years after its original construction, our surgical floor will be brought up to modern standards and provide a more comfortable environment with enhanced privacy and accessibility for the thousands of surgical patients we care for each year,” said Beth Brownlee, Vice-President of Clinical and Support Services and Chief Nursing Executive. “The space will not only meet the needs of today, but its design will also accommodate expanded surgical services in the years ahead.”
Highlights of the project include:
Relocation of the Endoscopy Suite into new space
Relocation of the Multi-Function (minor procedure) Room to the surgical floor
Creation of a new Ophthalmology Suite
Creation of a new Surgical Day Care Unit with 12 recovery stations
Creation of four new private rooms with private bathrooms
Installation of central air conditioning and infrastructure upgrades
Renovations to modernize existing surgical inpatient rooms with improved accessibility
New registration and patient and family areas
New scope reprocessing area
New MDR (Medical Device Reprocessing) area
New sterile medical equipment storage area
In order for the work to begin, some early steps are already taking place to free up space on the third floor of Tower A.
This includes the relocation of the hospital’s chapel to the first floor of Tower A.
“Moving our chapel will not only provide the space required for our new endoscopy suite, scope cleaning room and minor procedure room but will also allow us to create a modern chapel that will be welcoming and bright and in a more accessible centralized location,” Ms. Brownlee said.
Mr. Noel said that a renovation project of this size requires an incredible amount of effort and planning in order to ensure everything is done right and to minimize the disruption to patients and services while continuing to provide high quality surgical services in the interim.
“Not only will these enhancements make for a better patient experience and work environment for our health care team, but they will also make our facility more attractive to medical professionals looking to relocate to our area,” Mr. Noel said.
