It’s a new day for the Flin Flon General Hospital and the emergency department.
One of the Northern Health Region’s biggest recent projects, the new emergency department is now ready for use and will open in a matter of days. A ceremony and press conference at the new department was held March 18, with provincial, regional and local officials all in attendance.
“We can and should be proud of this new emergency department. It’s state-of-the-art and will meet the needs of both the community and the patients for many years to come,” said NHR CEO Helga Bryant.
“The new emergency department is indeed an investment in our futures and will help us in achieving our vision of healthy people and a healthy north.”
Sprawling out over more than 1,300 square metres, the new department is nearly nine times larger than the previous emergency department. The department includes four stretcher bays, two treatment rooms and a trauma room, family consult room, isolation and gynecological room and procedure room, as well as a new ambulance and vehicle bay connected directly to the department.
A decontamination room for patients who have encountered hazardous substances is also part of the new department, along with a newly laid out waiting room and a secure room to care for physically aggressive patients.
It is the first major redevelopment to the Flin Flon hospital in almost five decades. The new department will be open to the public on April 1.
“Today is a big celebration. Look at where you are. If you walk through and have a chance to tour, you can see the excitement on the faces of the people who work here. You can see the enthusiasm in the people who administer and work in our system. For all of us today, this is just tremendous cause for celebration,” said Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister, who spoke at the press conference.
“Getting better care and getting it sooner is a challenge for all of us in this country, with our healthcare system. It’s a problem that needed fixing and we’re making progress in fixing it.”
The building comes at a price tag of $27.1 million, paid mostly through the Manitoba government. Just over $2 million came from community contributions, including through fundraisers like the two Rotary Air Shows in 2016 and 2018 and donations from the City of Flin Flon, Town of Creighton, Flin Flon Rotary Club, Hudbay and others.
“I expect a thank-you note from Premier Scott Moe in the morning when I get back to my office,” joked Pallister in his speech at the press conference.
“We look forward to this product servicing this region, northern Manitoba and northern Saskatchewan, in a very fulsome way going forward,” added Flin Flon Mayor Cal Huntley.
Work on the department site began in 2016, with the previous entrance demolished to make room for the new site. The project was originally slated to be finished in either later 2017 or early 2018, but unforeseen issues with the building site put the kibosh on the first date, bumping the opening by nearly 18 months.
“One of the setbacks was, they knew exactly where there was bedrock and when they got into it, they poured concrete and went down to fix the structure to the bedrock and realized that, instead of bedrock right there, there was a gigantic trough. That alone was a 10-month delay, to be able to mitigate and redesign. Those things add real time and real expense.”
The protracted delay led some to feel like the project would be delayed forever, said Bryant.
“I think where we all had moments where we did wonder, ‘Could this actually happen?’ Now, it has and we’re here and it’s something we have looked forward to for a long time,” she said.
“The new emergency department will allow us to meet today’s standards of care, create a safe place for patients, families and staff and will do so in a way that was so lacking in our old emergency department.”
The official opening date - April Fools’ Day - was also fodder for some remarks by Friesen.
“I think that’s a little poignant,” he said, adding, “I think there would have been moments where the community wondered, ‘Is this ever going to get done?’”
“It will, for many years hence, be able to appropriately serve the residents of this community and the surrounding region.”
