The Grande Prairie Regional Hospital Foundation (GPRHF) provided an update on the new hospital in Monday’s (April 5) Grande Prairie City Council meeting.  

Dawn Miller, the Major Gifts Officer of the GPRHF, made the presentation. She says that while there is no hard date set, the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital is expected to open late fall. The grand opening committee will meet May 1 and have a more definite date then. 

The original plan was to open the hospital in June, but it was pushed back so there will not be ongoing construction when the hospital opens. The construction includes two more surgical suites, a 32-bed medical unit, and a 28-bed mental health unit. Miller says that multiple teams are currently on site, getting the building ready, testing systems, installing equipment and furniture and getting staff training and orientation plans ready.  

Grande Prairie Regional Hospital can now be seen on the side of the building. 

The new hospital is expected to have 1,300 staff initially, not including the doctors, and increase gradually overtime. More specialists will come as more OR spaces open and patients are available.  

Miller says that the emergency department of the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital has over 50 treatment spaces, nearly double the number at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital. Both the entire department and individual patient treatment areas are significantly larger. There will be 50 public parking spaces nearby.

All acute care will be at the new hospital when it’s open, with the QEII focusing on extended care. The emergency department at the QEII Hospital will remain open for a time, with diagnostic imaging, casting and other areas needed still available. Many Alberta Health Services offices currently in the community will move into the QEII. Eventually, though it could take at least five years and depends on funding, the QEII will be a health centre rather than a hospital.