October
27, 2002
After Years Of Planning, Construction:
County Health-Care Centre Officially Open For Business
by Ryan Foster (staff reporter)
|
| OFFICIALLY
OPEN - Seen here: LPN Nadine Snowdon helps patient
Judy Allen get situated in her new room. (Foster) |
UPPER
NAPPAN - Cumberland County's new regional health-care
facility is open for business.
After years of planning and months of construction, patients
and equipment were moved from Highland View Regional hospital
into the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre. Oct.
27 saw the transfer of patients to the new facility, while
the official first day of business is today.
"The day is going really well, there have been a few minor glitches, but
nothing we can't take care of here," said Cumberland Health Authority
spokeswoman Ann Hamilton-Wood.
"Everything is going really, really well, we are a bit ahead of schedule
with the patient transfers."
Hamilton-Wood gave full marks to the staff and the relocators
for the job they did. Health
Care Relocation of Ontario handled the move from Highland
View Regional Hospital, arriving in town last weekend
to begin transporting equipment to the new facility.
"The
staff and the relocators are just wonderful, they are
doing a great job."
While Mother Nature didn't cooperate, everything else did. Hamilton-Wood
noted that Emergency Health Services did a great job transferring
patients. The ambulances were going nonstop to ensure everyone
was moved into the new facility on time.
"The most important thing was the patients," Wood said, adding that
ensuring they were transferred safely and in a timely manner was of the greatest
importance. By
mid-afternoon the patient move was complete and the last staff departed Highland
view with the closure of the emergency room and the removal of signage from
the building. At about the same time, signs throughout the community were changed
to reflect the hospital's new location.
The
brand-new $46 million health-care centre will be providing
Cumberland County with high-quality health care. The
building, which was built around the needs and functions
of the staff, will have the same number of beds, but
boasts 70 per cent more space. Cumberland
County will be able to provide top of the line health
care with the acquisition of several pieces of new equipment
and the hiring of a radiologist.
The
new hospital offers a full range of services including:
two operating rooms and the new PACS system.
