(Abby Zieverink / EverythingGP staff)

By Abby Zieverink

Set to open December 4

Patients moving from QEII to GPRH December 4

Dec 1, 2021 | 6:00 AM

With the new Grande Prairie Regional Hospital set to open its doors to the public, Saturday, December 4 is expected to be a very busy day for those helping transfer patients from the QEII to the new hospital.

RELATED: A look inside the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital as opening nears

Candice Edey, Grande Prairie Regional Hospital Project Operational Lead says the plan is to move the patients from the QEII to the new GPRH in just one day, starting at 6 a.m. on Saturday.

She says they expect the transfers to take a maximum of 18 hours.

“We’re hoping to be done faster than that, but it will be completed all in that day,” said Edie.

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This means, at 6 a.m. on Saturday, the Emergency Department (ED) at the QEII will close and no new admissions will be taken in at the old hospital.

Edey tells EverythingGP, the GPRH will officially start accepting new admissions and open its ED once the patient transfers begin.

“We will still have the patients in the (QEII) at that time, (and) we will work to discharge (them) as appropriate. So any emergency visits that might have come in overnight that just need to finish up there, will stay and then be sent home when they are discharged.”

However, patients requiring a longer hospital stay will be transported to the new hospital, which Edey says has taken a lot of planning and coordination between the different teams to make for a smooth transition.

“Somewhere between 13 to 16 EMS vehicles are dedicated to that day to move all of the patients over,” she said.

“The neonatal transport team is supporting; they’re going to have some people coming up specially that day to help transport the NICU patients. We also have ALS (Advanced Life Support) crews that are dedicated to moving our ICU patients for us,” she added.

“That’s an advantage of us being a provincial organization, we can bring in resources from other locations.”

Edey says on December 4 and 5, there will be a phased approach to move equipment currently being used by patients at the QEII will be moved over as the patients are being transferred.

Stacy Greening, AHS Senior Operations Officer for the Grande Prairie area says they are also thankful for the City that day who will be helping to ensure the travel route will be well maintained.

“If we get snow, they are watching all the lights for us and they’re helping expedite all of the patient transfer,” she said. “This is a big project and so we’re really grateful for all the people that have made that happen.”

More information on the new hospital can be found on the AHS website.