New intensive care unit coming to Fredericton hospital
Fredericton's Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital will be opening a new intensive care unit next month.
"The equipment is more technical and it’s bigger, and we need more space to be able to keep up with the best practices,” said Amy McCavour, the regional director for surgery and care.
The unit cost a reported $21.75 million and is expected to bring the number of beds up from eight to 12.
According to a news release from the province, each patient room will be private with its own bathroom and window.
Seven of those beds will be ready in a couple of weeks, but the rest can only open as staff fill positions for the unit.
"[Human resources] has always been a challenge lately and we know that,” said Minister of Health Bruce Fitch.
“That's why we've developed a group in the Department of Health and hired an executive director of recruitment, and they've got plans that are going to coordinate with the [Regional Health Authorities] and with the department,” Fitch said.
Fitch noted recruitment is already taking place to bring in more physicians and registered nurses to the province.
“We're not just limiting it to the additional seats that we put in place, because that will take the time for those individuals to go through the training and be on the floor,” he said.
The opposition says they're happy to see the project, which was announced by the former Liberal government in 2016, come to fruition.
"It's one thing to open these new beds but it's another to staff them,” said Rob McKee, the N.B. Liberal health critic.
“I don't think they've been doing the best job recruiting over the last year. I think it was something that was more of an afterthought when they came out with their reform plan on health care. But with pressure from us and other stakeholders over the last year, it seems like they've ramped it up a little bit,” he said.
The provincial government says opening the unit is just one phase of a $250 million dollar project modernizing maternal and newborn, surgical care, and day surgery environments, which should be completed by March 2024.
"Overall, our government is committed to spending $176 million in capital health-care infrastructure in the 2023-24 year, and of this total, $95 million will be for renovations and additions and other improvements around the province,” said Minister Fitch.
Despite the hiring challenges, the new Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital ICU wing will officially open on Feb. 14.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Feds hope to table foreign interference legislation next week: LeBlanc
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to table legislation this week to help the federal government address foreign interference, but he wouldn't say whether the proposal will include a foreign agent registry.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Auston Matthews was back on the ice with his teammates Saturday.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.