South Eastman Regional Health Authority (RHA) has been given approval to tender the redevelopment and expansion of the emergency department at Bethesda Hospital in Steinbach. This announcement was made by Health Minister Theresa Oswald.
“The population in the Steinbach area continues to grow and we want to ensure that families have access to quality emergency care when they need it,” said Oswald. “The project that we have given the regional health authority approval to tender for construction is substantially larger than their initial proposal, to ensure it meets the needs of the Steinbach community for years to come while also ensuring the emergency department remains open during construction.”
While the original proposal from the South Eastman RHA included a 3,800-square-foot expansion to the emergency department, consultations with hospital staff and a review of community needs led to the full development plan which will now see an expansion of 45,000 square feet and 24 additional patient treatment and examination spaces including an expanded emergency department with new private admitting and triage areas, a mental-health examination room and a new observation unit. The expansion project also includes the addition of a new dedicated special-care unit.
“We are delighted that the Province of Manitoba has approved tendering the full expansion project,” said John Stinson, vice-president of acute care and planning for South Eastman Health. “Bethesda Hospital is a regional health centre and this full emergency department redevelopment project will offer patients and families modern, quality care.”
The region expects to tender the project for construction within two weeks, which should see construction start later this summer, noted Stinson.
“The redevelopment of the Bethesda Hospital emergency department is vital to the health of our community,” said Garth Reimer, chair, Bethesda Foundation. “We are proud to be a partner in this exciting project and wish to thank the provincial government, the RHA and the generous donors to the Bethesda Foundation for making this project happen.”
Bethesda Hospital is an 80-bed facility with a CT scanner and two ultrasound rooms. The current emergency department was built in 1987 and is just over 2,200 square feet. Bethesda’s emergency department now has approximately 25,000 patient visits per year, which the minister noted is comparable to smaller community hospital emergency departments in Winnipeg.
