As pediatric staff prepare to open Saskatchewan’s first children’s hospital, moving from the Royal University Hospital pediatric department next door, some bittersweet emotions are coming to the forefront.

“I’ve heard a lot of the nurses speak of the struggles and the nervousness about what the new place is going to be like. There’s excitement, nervousness and sadness of leaving the home,” said Michele Loeffler, who spent over 30 years working as a pediatric nurse at RUH.

Loeffler is now retired but is still actively involved in her profession as an educator.

“There’s a lot of trepidation about leaving your home. Many of the nurses have worked on those different units for either all of their career or a good part of it,” Loeffler said.

Loeffler who was part of the team that helped design the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital was a neonatal Intensive Care and outpatient nurse at RUH for 32 years.

“I think it’s going to take some time to get used to a new way to deliver care, but nurses are very good a adapting and making the best of things so it will be good,” Loeffler said.

The current pediatric department has been housed at RUH for nearly four decades. The new Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital is slated to open 6:00 a.m. Sunday.