New Coronary Care Unit under construction at The Moncton Hospital

Hoping to put patient’s needs at the forefront, The Moncton Hospital is undergoing a major renovation.

Construction has officially begun on a new $56 million coronary care unit, or CCU.

On Monday, officials gathered close to the new site on Arden Street to announce the new build and impact it is expected to have.

“In terms of the day-to-day, it’s going to be more about providing good-quality care for the patients,” said Dr. Sherief Kamel, a cardiologist and clinical department head of internal medicine at the hospital.

“The patients are the centre of everything, and so for them to have their own space, the ability to have private conversations with them and their families about their care, will be really important. That’s not something we can do now because all the rooms are shared and they’re separated simply by a curtain.”

He adds the current space is so outdated that sometimes snow will come in the windows during the winter months.

“Some of our facilities are aged as we’ve kind of learned, and I think that will provide a better experience for the patients and also for the staff,” he said.

The new two-storey wing will add nearly 28,000-square feet to the hospital and include eight coronary care beds and a 30-bed cardiac/medical unit.

The plan is for construction to be complete by June 2026.

“It really will improve the quality of care as well as the availability of beds for cardiac patients here in the Moncton area,” said Horizon Health Network’s interim president and CEO, Margaret Melanson.

“Additionally, we know the City of Moncton has a very growing population, and therefore the increase in numbers of bed for cardiac intensive care is absolutely required.”

Officials say patients will still have to travel to the New Brunswick Heart Centre in Saint John, but the new CCU unit in Moncton will have a ripple effect.

“It’ll create more capacity down there because some of those patients will be coming back here sooner, or receiving some treatments here in more expedient manner,” said New Brunswick Health Minister Bruce Fitch.

Adding, “our population is getting older and it’s getting sicker and the demand on the health care continues to grow, so having facilities, modern facilities, such as this, improving the access is a real benefit to the province.”

The project was a partnership between Horizon, the Government of New Brunswick and the Friends of the Moncton Hospital Foundation.

“We announced a goal of $8 million for The Moncton Hospital, but as we know in this great community we all live here, that we were able to surpass that goal and raise over $10 million,” said Extraordinary Care Campaign chair, Robert K. Irving.

Officials say while more beds are always needed, this new unit is expected to meet the need in the Moncton area.

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