Royal University Hospital is getting 36 additional acute care beds to accommodate patients admitted through the Emergency Department.
The beds will be located in part of the space that will open up when the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital opens in the fall, the Saskatchewan Health Authority said in a news release.
"The hope is that there won’t be as many hallway beds and inappropriate treatment spaces, that those patients will move up and we can care for emergency patients in the appropriate spaces,” Dr. Janet Ferguson told CTV News.
The province will spend $2.6 million on the beds this year, with subsequent annual funding of $8 million. The beds will be staffed with 56 full-time nursing positions.
The Royal University Hospital Foundation has donated $500,000 for new technology, beds and equipment for these areas.
The beds are important in reducing the length of time admitted patients are waiting for an in-patient bed when they go through the Emergency Department, Diane Shendruk, executive director of Acute Care Saskatoon, said in the release.
A temporary 22-bed admission transition area will be set up until plans are complete for the new permanent in-patient beds, the SHA says.
