A $14-million expansion of the emergency department at Lady Minto Hospital on Salt Spring Island is nearing completion.
Health Minister Adrian Dix said the expanded and modernized department is expected to open this fall.
The upgrade of the hospital, originally opened in 1914 and replaced in 1958, includes a 4,500-square-foot addition linked to the existing hospital by a new front entry, which brings the total building size to more than 29,000 square feet.
Work began in the spring of 2022, with completion originally set for the fall of 2023.
The number of treatment bays has been increased to eight from six, and the new space includes a medication area, check-in desk and a nursing-team care station that allows health staff to see all assessment and treatment areas.
The upgrade also includes an expanded patient and family waiting area, a de-escalation room, an ambulance bay, a decontamination site and accessible washrooms.
Dennis Miller, chairman of the Lady Minto Hospital Foundation, said the new facility will help preserve on-island health care amid a five-fold increase in the island’s population since the current emergency department was built.
Miller thanked Island Health and the Capital Regional Hospital District for their support.
Of the $14-million expected cost of the work, Lady Minto Hospital Foundation contributed more than $8 million, the hospital district contributed more than $3 million, and the balance is to be funded by the province through Island Health.
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