Premier, health minister coming for hospital opening ceremony

Premier Rachel Notley and Health Minister Sarah Hoffman will be in town this week to officially open the hospital’s new wing.

Although the Ambulatory Care Building has been occupied since late last year, this will be the official grand opening and acknowledgment of the expansion to Medicine Hat Regional Hospital.

The invitation-only event on Wednesday will celebrate additional space boasting about 23,000 square metres, which includes ambulatory care, a renal program, new surgical suites, the cancer clinic, sterile processing department, labour and delivery department, a heliport on the roof and the new energy centre.

The project took a long time to get off the ground. It was first talked of in 2008. In September 2011, sod was officially turned by the then premier Ed Stelmach.

“If you thought it took a long time (to reach this stage), just ask me,” Stelmach was quoted saying at the time. “It’s a good time to invest in infrastructure, which also creates jobs.”

When Alison Redford was premier, she visited the hospital in October 2012 to officially unveil plans for the new wing. A few months earlier that year, demolition of the Dr. Dan MacCharles Auxilliary Hospital had begun, making way for the new building.

Most of the construction work was coming to an end in late 2016 with some details still being finished off inside.

By late last year many departments were moving into the new wing in a carefully staged process, one at a time, accomplishing the transition without interrupting services.

Part of the whole project is a total refurbishment of the emergency department, which is underway.