Photo by Curtis Galbraith.

By Curtis Galbraith

Healthcare

New use for old medicine unit at QE II

Apr 8, 2025 | 6:00 AM

New transition care space will be established at the QE II Ambulatory Care Centre.

It will be located in an old medicine unit and include 19 beds.

Grande Prairie Regional Hospital senior operating officer Candice Edey says this would be a 19 bed unit for people who do not need the level of care provided at the new hospital.

“They might be patients who are awaiting placement in a long term care facility, or they might be patients who just need a little bit longer to recover after their acute care stay.”

“It’s just temporary (placement), so the idea is that they would only stay there (for a ) maximum of about three months, and then progress to a different location.”

Edey says this is a “temporary solution” to what she calls “capacity challenges.”

“It should help to alleviate some of the acute care capacity challenges we’re having at the regional site and (will give) some opportunity to keep people a little bit closer to home for a little bit longer while we’re awaiting that final placement location.”

Edey says this unit would be for patients that need more treatment but not the level of care provided at the acute care unit.

It could also be for seniors awaiting a spot in long term or continuing care.

Edey says work has been ongoing over several months to get the rooms at the QE II ready.

“To get our staffing in place, to get the furniture and equipment ordered.”

“There is a little bit of patch and paint we’ve done, just to fix the dents in the walls, those kinds of things they’ve been working on (also) making sure all the systems are working properly with call bells and those kinds of things.”

She adds the new care space will also include things like occupational therapy, social work and physiotherapy, along with physicians, registered nurses, and healthcare aides.

Patients should start moving in this month.