Tour our new Emergency Department!

As part of an ongoing series featuring our new hospital currently under construction in St. Catharines, we recently invited the media to learn how patients will receive emergency and urgent care treatment, whether they arrive by ambulance or by presenting at the Emergency Department, when the new hospital opens in Spring, 2013.

Watch a video tour of our new Emergency Department below…

Thanks to TV Cogeco Niagara for their support and continued coverage of our new hospital series.

A great thanks goes to Emergency Services Physician Dr. Rafi Setrak for his enthusiastic overview of the new department, along with Interim Clinical Manager of Operational Readiness Penny Kyle. A sincere thanks also goes to our partners at Niagara EMS for their continued support, most notably Operations Superintendent, Rob Barbisan and Commander of Operations, Elfriede Lane who took part in the media tour.

Look forward to features of more departments as we continue entering the home stretch!

"Emergency services moving eons ahead"

-Dr. Rafi Setrak

Once emergency services move to the new health complex in 2013, acute and urgent care services with one central triage will be provided under one roof for residents of St. Catharines, Thorold, Niagara-on-the-Lake and surrounding area.

There will be two distinct areas in the 25,000 sq.ft. section of the hospital, making up Emergency Services: Acute and Urgent Care. Acute Care will primarily serve patients at the more acute levels (triage levels one, two and three) while Urgent Care will serve less urgent patients (triage levels four and five). The goal of the area will be to reduce patient time in Emergency by having patients move quickly from triage and waiting directly into a treatment area for bedside registration and treatment if required.

Here’s a sneak peak at some of the features of our new, state-of-the-art Emergency Department:

A dedicated emergency services entrance to prevent congestion of vehicles at main entrance leads to the Urgent Care and Emergency waiting space which is infused with natural light.

The combined quick assessment triage allows staff to assess whether a patient requires urgent care or emergency services and to assess any infection control concerns.

49, 120 sq.ft. private treatment bays improve isolation and patient flow. Each room is equipped with a sink, three walls and a curtain. Yes, that’s for one patient!

Four private trauma rooms have easy access from the ambulance entrance and have been designed similar to the operating suites, with corian walls and articulating arms.

Psychiatric emergency treatment rooms, lined with rubber walls, are located in close proximity to the Mental Health Program.

Care stations are infused with natural light.