Emergency Department Now Open

Message from Grace Hospital COO, Kellie O’Rourke

After seven long and exciting years of planning, the dream of a new emergency department for Grace Hospital is a reality. This state-of-the art department will assure patients have the best access to care now, and in the future. It’s not just exciting for us; it is also exciting for our community! We held an open house on Saturday, May 26 and almost 500 community members joined us to see the new facility. All told, in the two months before we officially opened ,we have toured over 2,000 people, everyone from our staff, EMS, WPS, our community, to the Minister of Health, Premier and WRHA Board of Directors.

We opened at 0730 hrs on Tuesday May 29, and saw our first patient at 0734 hrs. We were able to decant all patients from the “old ED” to the new ED by 1020 hrs so this was an amazingly smooth transition.

I would especially like to thank the amazing Emergency Department team for their tireless work and focus on continuous improvement. Over the last several years, together with our partners in all clinical areas , they have made significant improvements in our wait times and patient flow which we will continue to sustain and improve in our new department. I thank them for their passion for creating the best possible patient experience and for how they have embraced change and the new model of care that we will be providing.

This project involved so many across our Campus and all areas and teams responded with their usual “can do” attitude for which the Grace and Winnipeg West Health Campus is renowned.
I would especially like to thank all who contributed to this safe smooth transition and grand opening including staff from Capital Planning, Facility Management, Materials Management, Housekeeping, Labs, Diagnostic Imaging, Volunteer Services, Spiritual Health and E Health.

I also wish to thank everyone who participated in the functional planning process over the years. We had groups of physicians, staff, volunteers , patients and families and a wide array of people from the community all come together to help us vision and plan this wonderful department. They all played a role in making sure our department is patient, staff and visitor friendly, and functions to its very best capacity.

On May 24th we held the official Dedication Ceremony with the Premier in attendance to help us celebrate. I wish to thank our Grace Hospital Foundation staff for their outstanding efforts in making this event such an overwhelming success.

Thanks to everyone for sharing in this special and defining moment for the Grace and for all those we serve.

Kellie O’Rourke
Chief Operating Officer