Planning for the new East Prince Health Facility reached another major milestone this week with the approval of the functional plan for the new facility. The plan defines exactly how services will be delivered, space allocations and relationships, the number of beds, and major equipment and technology requirements.
The new facility will occupy 180,000 square feet, significantly more than the existing Prince County Hospital. It will include 102 beds in 56 private rooms, 15 semi-private and 4 ward rooms.
Health and Social Services Minister Jamie Ballem advised that the functional plan is one of the most important milestones in the planning process. "It provides a snapshot for the public of our modern, efficient new facility," said the Minister. "The functional program reflects several priorities identified by the community in the role study including continued excellence in acute care, more emphasis on wellness, effective use of new technology and more client and family-centred care."
The functional program outlines service delivery in twelve core areas.
An Ambulatory Care Centre will consolidate all scheduled outpatient services such as minor surgery, stress testing and oncology in one location. It will also offer enhanced patient education services such as asthma, diabetes and nutrition counselling. "Currently, 80 percent of services at the Prince County Hospital are offered on an outpatient basis," advised Kay Lewis, chief planning officer. "The new ambulatory care centre will improve convenience for outpatients and reduce noise and traffic in the facility for inpatients and staff."
A separate critical care centre will house emergency services, a five-bed intensive care unit and a five-bed intermediate care unit. "By separating outpatient and emergency services, we hope to serve patients more appropriately, whether they need urgent or less urgent care," said Herman McQuaid, planning project director.
"The planning process offers us much opportunity to improve efficiency and client-centred care," advised Ms. Lewis. "For example, pharmacists and nutrition counsellors will work more closely with patients and staff in the medical and surgical units."
Dr. Bill Walker, surgeon and planning team member stated that the new surgical suite will incorporate three modern operating rooms and a day surgery unit. "A new five-bed intermediate care unit will be available for patients who require intermediate care between intensive care and the other nursing units. A ten-bed restorative care unit will offer dedicated services to patients who require prolonged recovery and therapy, such as stroke patients," said Dr. Walker.
Besides offering physiotherapy and occupational therapy services, the rehabilitative unit will house speech language pathology with an increased emphasis on the adult population.
The facility design provides for a greater focus on family-centred care. New mothers will receive labour, delivery and post-partem care in private rooms designed for the family as well. The four private palliative care rooms will include appropriate space for families to be with their loved ones.
Addiction services, located onsite, will include day programs for clients and families requiring detoxification services, rehabilitation and extended care. Specialized addiction programs will be offered for women, youth and families affected by addictions to tobacco, alcohol, drugs and gambling.
Acute mental health and community mental health services will be co-located in the new facility to maximize psychiatric resources and enhance follow-up care for patients when they are discharged.
Laboratory and diagnostic services will also be consolidated in one location to improve quality and speed of service. The area will house Prince County's first CT Scanner. New digital imaging equipment will greatly enhance the quality of diagnostic services while enabling X-rays and other images to be transmitted electronically to and from other health facilities.
Support services such as Environmental Services and Nutrition Services will be located onsite. Food will be prepared and delivered using new technology to improve food quality and flexibility in meal service for patients.
Much of the information technology, medical and non-medical equipment in the facility will be new. "We are greatly indebted to the Foundation, the Capital Campaign Committee and the community for their very generous support," said Ms. Lewis. "Together with the contributions of staff and physicians we are now well on our way to having a modern, well-planned facility that will serve us well for years to come."