Hospital president & CEO Nicole Aminot, WRHA president & CEO Mike Nader, Health Minister Audrey Gordon, Premier Heather Stefanson, Foundation president & CEO Karen Fowler, and St. Boniface Hospital Emergency Program medical director Paul Ratana at the Emergency Department announcement.
April 26, 2022
Construction on the redevelopment and expansion of the emergency department at St. Boniface Hospital has officially begun, Premier Heather Stefanson and Health Minister Audrey Gordon announced on April 26, 2022.
The $141 million project was strategically developed in consultation with the community to improve patient and staff experiences, and ensure timelier access to care, while maximizing functionality and flexibility and providing expanded space for increased numbers of patients.
St. Boniface Hospital Foundation president and CEO Karen Fowler announced the Foundation and its supporters will be a significant part of the project. The Foundation will raise $10 million to help set a new standard in emergency care that promotes health and well-being.
“Time and again, our community has shown us they will rally for an important cause and made life-changing advancements for patients at the Hospital,” said Fowler. “We are asking Manitobans to invest in this important project, as the Hospital embarks on creating an environment that supports timely and compassionate care in our most critical moments.”
Built in 1955, St. Boniface’s current emergency space has served an ever-growing number of Manitobans with minimal updates for almost seven decades.
“The staff and physicians who work in the St. Boniface emergency department are truly dedicated professionals, but we know they have been working in an ageing environment that needed to be upgraded,” said Nicole Aminot, interim president and CEO of St. Boniface Hospital. “We’re both excited about, and proud of, the clinical improvements and enhancements to patient care that will result from the newly redeveloped and expanded Emergency Department here at St. Boniface.”
The Emergency redevelopment will strengthen the ability of St. Boniface Hospital to provide the highest-quality patient care to Manitobans who need it.
In 2019, there were nearly 48,000 emergency department visits to St. Boniface Hospital. Based on population growth and age projections, the facility is expected to accommodate 55,000 annual visits at its opening, tentatively scheduled for the fall of 2025. With this expansion, the emergency department will be able to continue providing safe, high-quality care to patients in the future, as annual visits are projected to grow, up to 70,000 to 75,000 annual visits by 2039.
As a community, we have the chance to elevate the standard of critical care offered at St. Boniface Hospital.
Foundation donors will help renovate 18,600-sq.-ft. of existing space and add 86,200-sq.-ft in new construction. The inclusive, barrier-free facility will have numerous features that improve patient care:
- an expanded waiting room and triage area,
- an expanded, central resuscitation area,
- a dedicated diagnostic imaging suite, with a new CT scanner and x-ray machines,
- private exam rooms in treatment areas,
- a dedicated mental health treatment area,
- a dedicated ambulance entrance and parking bay for 10 ambulances,
- a new, covered south entrance to reduce congestion,
- an improved south parking lot, and
- a public-use outdoor garden space.
Let’s build the emergency department our community deserves! Donate today.